


The Road to Happiness

by KiroAngel, RukiaK1



Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Anorexia, Bulimia, But he actually loses weight because illegal weight loss drugs, Eating Disorders, M/M, Okay it's really bulimia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-06-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 20:11:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3823207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiroAngel/pseuds/KiroAngel, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RukiaK1/pseuds/RukiaK1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Justin Hammer was quite- well, not content with his life, but it was normal and he couldn't change it. He had a company, a living, and he would even be able to fit into his suit for the next Hammer demonstration if he kept to his diet. Then, he meets a genius engineer who might either make or break Hammer Industries, and make or break Hammer himself.<br/>Warning for eating disorders, graphic(ish?) descriptions of them, depression, and Justin being life's punching bag.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning of the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! Long time no see. Sorry I've been away, but I've been doing a whole lot of nothing. This is a piece written with a cowriter, but not the usual one! Seriously, this author is a rainbow of awesome and you will love this. 
> 
> The story has not been finished yet but I anticipate that it will be. Eventually. Hopefully. We're working on it. In the meantime, I hope you love it.
> 
> Oh! and sorry about the triggers. Basically bulimia, including some edging onto the purge and the actual binge (though it doesn't actually show them, just describe right after and some of the feelings going into it), and depression, and self-loathing. I'm sorry if any of these things offend you, either, I have never had an eating disorder or known someone with one, though I have experienced depression for myself (yay me). So, uh, if this is uncomfortable don't read it, and if you catch any blaring mistakes that I made with the disorder let me know and I will endeavor to fix it.
> 
> This was actually started as part of Eating Disorder Awareness Week at our school. Because I wanted to write something in honor of it. I should mention that Justin does have bulimia nervosa, but he loses weight due to a very very illegal weight loss drug from another country, so no, that is not the symptoms not matching up, he just has multiple vicious methods of purging.
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys love this!

Justin straightened, wiping his mouth with a filched square of toilet paper. Spitting up one last glob of spittle and stomach acid, he flushed the toilet and leaned against the stall of the bathroom. 

 

In deeply, out just as deep. He tried to collect himself, ready himself for another hour or so of boring meaningless conversation over drinks. Poking his glasses up his nose, he unmatched the stall door and moved to wash his hands and mouth. He nearly ground to a halt when he saw another man there, but recovered quickly and gave him a bland, closed-mouth smile.

 

Forge had come into the bathroom with his hair ruffled and disordered. He had spent another all-nighter trying to fix some of the things he had been working on, including fixing his metallic limbs. He honestly had not expected anyone to be in there at this time, he always waited until he knew relatively well that no one would mind his presence somewhere or not notice him at all -he was a mutant by all standards after all-. 

 

Carefully he lifted his head from what he was looking at in the mirror. "Uh hello..." He said then slightly nervous. He wasn't the best with other people, especially those that he recognized. He gave a smile back slowly, but he had a feeling that something was wrong. Years of working for people and doing this and that made him a good observer, even outside of technology. "Er-are you feeling alright?" He tried to tread on his words as carefully as he could, and prayed he wouldn't get a nasty retort back. 

 

“Fine, absolutely fine,” Justin nodded curtly and moved past him to the sink. He couldn’t rinse his mouth out in front of the other man without possibly making him suspicious, but he also couldn’t go back to the table with vomit breath. He cranked up the water and decided to take a very, very long time washing his hands until the other left.

 

Forge flinched a little bit but didn't say anything back. The tone either told him that the other didn't like mutants, at all. Or didn't want him to know. Either way he wasn't going to press his luck. He swallowed. "S-sorry." Maybe he would figure it out when Justin was in a better mood. He left the metallic arm that he was trying to re-attach properly using the mirror, slightly unattached. That way he wouldn't be bothering the other. Carefully he tried to move out then, holding the arm so it didn't drop to the floor… 

 

Justin sighed, having completely rinsed all vestiges of soap from his skin and went about drying them long and carefully, drying each individual finger and around his watch. He watched Forge move in the mirror, trying to pretend that he absolutely did not care that he was there or if he was leaving. Inside his head, he prayed to every deity his parents had promised him existed that the man would just leave. 

 

Forge was worried, and so as he got to the door he glanced back. "I-I'm sorry if I did anything to upset you but if you ever need to talk I'm open to talk to....I guess that is if it's not just a dislike of mutants that you have against me..."  He swallowed heavily, trying to process something else to say. "G-good day." He closed the door behind him...oh that was stupid of him. But he did like to be of help, he didn't want people to think they were alone in a mess...even if he felt that way about himself. At least he could make a difference in other people's lives even if they didn't want to make one in his. 

 

Justin watched the other man bumble his way through- what was that? Some sort of offering to give him the number of a good psychiatrist? Ferge- Fergus- Fort? Whatever his name was, he obviously didn’t get that Justin could find his own psychiatrists. He just didn’t need any. He sighed and turned to the sink, taking a large mouthful of water and gargling loudly, washing what tasted like a chemical spill from inside his throat. 

 

“What was that, a sixteen ounce steak and two appetizers? You should know better than that,” he muttered to himself, wiping his mouth and any evidence of his activities away. Forge could hear the other from where he was, he hadn't had enough courage to move for the moment. He wanted to get Justin help, even if it was just talking to him....but what use was a mutant like him. Unless technology was involved he was more or less useless. That's why Logan and Scott had always refused to let him go on regular missions unless it was his specialty. 

 

"....I'm sorry for not being much help..." He mumbled more to himself than anything. Quickly then he tried to escape the current location he was at. After all. Mutants were monsters to society. And that included him. Justin whipped his head to look to the door. Someone had been there a few moments before. He sighed, cursing himself under his breath for being indiscreet, straightening, and looking himself up and down in the mirror. His waistcoat fit snugly around his frame, still too fleshy for his tastes. All fat and no muscle, that’s what he was. Biting back fowl words, Justin turned for the door. He couldn’t keep Senator Stern and the rest waiting.


	2. A Halting Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Justin and Forge meet again, and someone gets a job offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the actual beginning. The first chapter was just to introduce the thought of Justin being bulimic- the real plot line starts here. Sorry if this is a bit rambly, that's just how we seem to work. Also, Logan is an overprotective asshat.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> ~Kiro

Why did he volunteer to show up here? Oh that's right he was the only one who could explain the technology he has created and for what it could be used for. You know not the best idea when people hated your kind and half the time ignored everything you said to them. Well, there was no turning back now. Pushing up his goggles he walked into the room, gulping as he saw how people dressed fancy for conferences like this. "Oh." He said then softly to himself as he spotted someone familiar, that he had met not long ago. Maybe a month or two?

 

Well in any case he knew something was different right away. Oh...that was it. Justin was a lot smaller...skinnier was a better word, than their last meeting. And when he could compare someone's size to his own, that was saying something. Maybe if he had been a little more assertive he could have helped...because now he was worried. Something was seriously wrong-oh. He looked up....having accidentally ran into someone during his process of worrying and trying to figure out what was wrong with the other.

 

Justin was in the middle of chatting up the heads of several other companies and a congresswoman when he was barreled into. Stumbling to the side, he caught himself and looked to the interruption, a frown forming on his face. It cleared when he saw who had stumbled into him, making way for a shallow smile. “Oh, hello! You’re that up-and-coming private developer… Fergie, was it?” He smoothed down his suit, thick and layered even in the accumulated body heat of the indoor conference.

 

"Er-sorry..." He rubbed his head a little bit....he was nervous again suddenly. "Uh yes I am but....my name is Forge...." He rubbed his head and looked at Justin. He wasn't sure what more to say.... Well he guessed it might be good to just go to his seat. It seemed Justin wasn't aware he was a mutant...

 

Justin hooked Forge by the arm as he started walking away. The cold, hard metal barely made him pause. "Now wait just a second there." Justin turned to his slightly-intrigued companions. "This guy is supposed to be fantastic with tech. Some sort of mutant mind meld with the metal, yeah?" Justin resolutely did not feel bad for throwing the other under the bus. This was just business and Justin needed someone to distract the group while he made his getaway.

 

Forge seemed to just freeze. He looked at Justin. "...." Then pulled back and more or less backed up... "N-no...I'm not a mutant-" He said and tried to get away from them...it was coming. The hate of what he was and the hurt. The hurt was always there. Always....and there was that fear now in his eyes.

 

"Ah, relax," Justin clapped him on the shoulder. "We don't care, as long as you bring something special to the table. Isn't that right, boys?" The people laughed politely, eyeing Forge with a tad more wariness. Justin clapped Forge on the back. "Well, it's about time for me to split. You all have fun."

 

Forge swallowed a little. Now he felt like no one would like what he made because he was a mutant...that was more than likely what was going to happen. "Right..." He said slowly and sighed... Yeah no one would think the same, he imagined not one person interested in what he made...

 

"Ta ta for now. You have fun." Justin broke off and disappeared into the crowd. His throat was killing him and he had left his pills with his things backstage. Forge gave a small nod before looking around. He wasn't too sure what to do, but staying away from everyone for the moment was probably his best option. He ran a hand through his hair, making it messier than it had been before.

 

* * *

 

Justin gave a large smile, approaching where Forge had retreated after his presentation. The tech itself had stolen his attention. It worked and it worked well, despite the seemingly impossible execution. Justin had decided that he could use that kind of man working for Hammer Industries and making Hammer tech work better, even coming up with new technology to profit off of. He would be a major asset for Hammer Industries- if he could secure him.

 

Forge took a deep breath, glancing at his creation which more or less was not the best thing he had ever made. But, it had been easy to create when he thought about it, unlike some other things that he had been working on. Yet, no one really paid attention to the fact the tech was good. More so to what he was and also wondering why he was allowed in here. He glanced up to see who was around when he spotted Justin walking over to him.

 

“Hey, Forge, buddy!” Justin slung an arm around his shoulders. “Let’s go have a chat, why don’t we? Some things in your presentation caught my interest.” Justin gave him a thin smile that made him look thinner than he actually was. Justin had practiced that smile, time and time again, in the mirror in his office when he ran out of paperwork to do. It was no substitute for actually being thinner, but it was better than the alternatives.  Forge blinked and looked at him.

 

"Alright..." He said then slowly, there was not much more for him to do here anyways. He might as well explain, if this was about questions anyways. However he couldn't say what he did want to say...he was worried. The smile made him more worried than he had been before. He knew something was wrong, that Justin was hiding something big. He knew that but he wasn't good at reading people, so he couldn't figure out just exactly what was wrong. He would later and then it would all make sense...hopefully.

 

Justin happily steered him towards the exit, removing his hand from Forge’s shoulder and sticking it deep in his pocket. “I have a car out front. This is a talk better done in private.” He hoped to convince the other with a bit of a cash incentive, some smooth talking, and maybe dangle a carrot in front of his face of recognition and being known for something other than a mutant. They would have to keep that little fact on the down-low.

 

Forge blinked, not sure where they were going. "O-okay. Give me a minute then...I need to tell Logan I'm going somewhere other than here, I don't feel like walking home when he shows up and can't find me..." He rubbed the back of his head. Last time it happened, it rained. Which really, really did suck. Justin shook his head. He didn’t want to lose track of the other, or worse, have Stark snatch him up while Justin had his back turned.

 

“I can have a car take you where you need to go after our meeting. I’m sure your ride will understand.”

 

Forge paled slowly. "....understand? No that's not in his vocabulary...he'd just give up and leave me...he's done it before...and he's just coming here to pick me up near closing time...or before. He's either early, very early, or very late. I never know with him..." Forge sighed. "But if this won't take long it probably will work..."

 

“It shouldn’t take long,” Justin confirmed. Most of it would be negotiation of salary and position, and even then he would be pretty flexible on those points. That was, if Forge took the job. If not, Justin would be back to the drawing board. “I’ll have you back in under an hour.” Or two. It definitely wouldn’t take longer than three, and if so Forge could use his handy new signing bonus to get where he needed to go.

 

"..." Forge hesitated but then he nodded. "Alright that shouldn't be to bad." Though he made sure he had his communicator signal on just to be safe. If he turned it off he didn't know what kind of chaos he would cause back at the institute. Especially since it had taken a lot of asking if he could go. Xavier had been the easy part of that asking, but when it came to asking for a day off of work and a day where he would have to bother Logan for a ride (as once again Logan had shredded Scott's car top) it wasn't as easy. The mutant gave a light smile and grabbed the bag he had, since he really did need it with him if something stopped working, such as his arm.

 

“Great! I’ll have you back in time, scout’s honor.” Justin did the thing with the fingers. He had never actually been a scout but several of the boys in high school who hadn’t taken well to Justin had been. He motioned Forge through with an orange-stained hand and waved to his driver. “Just a quick trip for coffee. You like coffee, right? Good.” He didn’t actually pause for a response, instead making his way toward the car.

 

Forge honestly just kind of went along with it all. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but he was a little disappointed he couldn't get a word in. Oh well it honestly wasn't anything new for him. He followed, trying to weave himself through all of the people that got in his way. Eventually it was clear and he jogged after the other.

 

Justin’s driver had stepped out and opened the door for them. Justin slid in first and looked back at Forge, beckoning him in. “Come on, time’s a-wasting. You wanted to be back quick, didn’t you?”

 

"Yeah I'm trying...I'm not fast." Forge pouted as he got closer and then slid in. He wasn't that physically fit, at all. He looked around. "...fancy." He had never been in a car like this...like ever. So this was more or less a shock to him.

 

“Eh, you get used to it,” Justin waved him off. He checked his reflection in the dividing glass, arranging himself to hide his girth as best he could. “Cafe de la Nuit,” he told the driver, and sat back into the italian leather seat.

 

Used to it? Well that was something to say when Forge didn't even have any transportation? Well practical transportation, as you don't drive a jet somewhere when you need to go there. He shifted a little bit, not sure what to say now. He was still worried about Justin, he really did...but what was he going to say to him?

 

Justin looked to Forge as the car pulled away, studying him. “Did you build your arm yourself?” Just from what he could see of the hand, it was impressive work. It didn’t have the same elegance and style of the Iron Man suit, but it was obviously functional and did its job. It was exactly what Justin needed to add to his company’s products. If every HI weapon had that sort of functional beauty, they would be knee-deep in government contracts.

 

"Huh? Well yes this version was made by myself. Of course there are several different versions of my arm...this one is the most practical version, that way I can not look dangerous...." He rubbed his head slowly...

 

"Of course. But you have other, more weaponized versions of your arm?" Justin inquired, leaning close to inspect the joints. He could see it now, how this was a stripped-down model. If this was what the man could do just at his basics, Justin couldn't wait to get him in a weapons workshop.

 

"I do." Forge let him look at the arm, rolling up his sleeve enough to show a good view of how it was made. "From made to fight to attaching weapons."  He looked at Justin. "Have to do what I can to survive you know...and making something I could actually fight with was a good thing..." Justin fought himself not to drool.

 

"That is quite the piece of machinery. And functional, too." He looked up to Forge, holding out a hand just above Forge's mechanized elbow. "May I?"

 

"I guess." He looks at the arm, he normally forgot it was even made of metal. He never really had to worry about it after all, it was kind of just there. "Y-yes you may." He said it caught him slightly by surprise as he wasn't used to people touching his arm when it was attached to his body, or being interested in it. Justin immediately fell upon it like a starving man, running his fingers along the joints and bending them gently, feeling the resistance and the servos working inside it.

 

"How is it controlled? A neuro transmitter? Push back on my hand."

 

Forge turned a little red. This felt weird and was just downright strange to him in the first place. "It's connected to the nerves so my brain doesn't think it's any different than a normal arm." Forge explained and slowly pushed the part back against Justin's hand, carefully because he wasn't sure what the other expected. "My leg functions the same way."

 

"You have a mechanical leg as well?" Justin smiled slightly to himself as he felt the servos in the arm working, just barely. It really was a great feat of engineering, nearly as smooth as a flesh arm. "How much feeling do you have in them? What about your range of motion, fine motor control? What sort of strength do you have? How much does it weigh? What sort of reinforcements did you have to put in to bear its weight?"

 

"Yes both of my right limbs are made of metal." Forge explained. And then he sweat-dropped as he listened to the other speak. He didn't really know what to say...because that was a lot of questions in what he heard was about one sentence. "Er- can you maybe write the questions down I caught maybe like one of them..." Justin sighed.

 

“Yeah, I can do that. How do you bear the weight of both limbs? That would cause a lot of tearing in the tissue, not to mention the long-term spinal sublimations… How are you not killing yourself by attaching all this metal to you?” As he was talking, he fished out his phone and pulled up a notepad to list out the rest of his questions.

 

"Well...I kind of...well my powers involve technology. I guess you could say I know everything about the metals I use...the material. And so the mass doesn't add up to much more than a normal arm, unless it's the battle ready arm. I also don't usually sleep with them attached. That's a dangerous idea if something went wrong. So they're removed, making it less likely to get hurt from electric related incidents. Yet there is a metal base where they connect with the skin, special metal as I see it as for the most part I've made it almost normal and it's not sharp. It's kind of like putting on a new hand or leg after you've lost it in a war. Not that bad so no real repercussions..."

 

Justin stared at Forge throughout his answer, hardly blinking. “My god, where have you been all my life? That’s it,” Justin sat forward and pressed the comm button to the driver’s seat. “Driver, take us to Hammer Industries.” He turned back to Forge. “You’re going to love this.” He loved this already. Plans for new projects flashed through his mind, projects scrapped as too difficult or put on indefinite hold. This mutant was like Tony Stark, but without the flash, the limelight, or the arrogance. Forge blinked at that and tilted his head. He wondered why they were going to Hammer Industries now. Was it because of his armor something like that?

 

"Okay?" He said then, uncertain about what the other was starting to get at with this. Like, really he was not at all sure what to expect or anything now.

 

Justin leaned back and looked to Forge, giving him a secretive smile. This was the pitch, everything else today and in the future of Hammer Industries counted on him getting this superpowered tech genius to work for him, not the competitors, but him improving and developing tech for Hammer. “I want to offer you a job, working for Hammer Industries. Hammer Armaments, specifically.”

 

Forge stared at him, and opened his mouth but had no words right now. "....like a money paying job?" He asked then. Clearly he had never actually had an actual paying job, so the question was quite...well it was to be expected from him.  Hammer blinked.

 

“Yes, it would be a paying job… At an entry level position, I would say you would be earning starting from eighty thousand a year. Plus hazard pay, of course, and if we like what you do you may be earning more within the year.” Justin had automatically deducted about thirty thousand from his lowest bid at Forge’s reaction. There was no sense in going broke over a genius if he would take less.

 

Forge was staring at him like he was crazy. "....well...." The institute could use money, he knew that. With how much Logan could destroy in a day? Yeah the money would definitely add up. Might also pay off that building they destroyed a day or so ago, or help pay it off. There was really no reason to say no but....he did have two people he HAD to get approval from. Yes he was a grown man but you know he didn't want claws to his neck or Xavier disproving of this. "I have to ask two people....if I'd be working they need to know that especially since I fix most technological damages....and the jet...everyday the jet..."

 

“Of course. I wouldn’t expect you to quit your position without advanced notice.” Justin gave him a smile. He could incentivise whoever the man’s current employer was to let go of him- obviously they weren’t using him to his full potential. “I am afraid that we’ll have to go through all the standard processes of getting you clearance, but I should be able to speed those up to about six weeks instead of six months.”

 

"Yeah maybe this is a good time to mention this. I don't actually have a job there. It's more so my home where I don't feel alone and there are people like me. You see...I'm part of the X-Men." He looked at him, dead serious about what he was saying. "So that legal what not you're saying doesn't actually apply because it's my home...it's not a job it's the place I go to every day and eat, sleep, and well, live there."

 

Justin scowled internally. So that was why no one had snatched him up yet; he was one of those nutsos. One big, happy family crammed in a hippie compound camouflaged to look like a school. Oh, and weapons. Good weapons. This man must be the one behind them. That was irresistible…

 

“Well, I’m sure we can work things out. I’m not going to ask you to leave that, of course. We can work out something of a compromise for your time.”

 

"I'll just have to ask." He said slowly but his gaze went down some... He had a feeling now that he mentioned that he wasn't exactly...favored. "But if I agree you can't tell people I'm a mutant, that's really bad for me...a lot of people don't understand anything and just for being in the same room they call the MRD to cut our necks open and kill us..." He looked at Justin, almost desperately. And you had to wonder how much hell he had gone through because he was a mutant.

 

Then there was an audible thud...but the car was stopped somehow. Well to the driver he had just hit something that was a very angry looking midget (more or less) with claws out.  Who clearly wanted this car to stop from how he stood in front of it growling… The driver quickly removed his foot from the gas pedal, eyes wide.

 

Justin had been just about to reassure his new asset that no, he would not be viciously murdered on the job… simply because he was a mutant, when the thud and rapid deceleration jerked him out of that. Swearing under his breath, he craned his neck to see what was the matter. The door opened then, and it wasn't a very nice way to open it either. And Forge was more or less grabbed out by the collar by the very pissed off man.

 

"Logan!" He yelped as the other did not at all know the meaning of treating someone kindly.

 

"Xavier will pay for the damages. Forge you're coming home and givin be a damn good explanation for what the fuck is going on before I lose my cool." Forge paled a little bit. He hasn't seen Logan this angry in a while.

 

“Hey! We were talking!” Justin protested, scrambling to look out the torn-off door hole. Seeing Logan, he visibly paled under his spray on tan and pushed himself back again. “It was a, ah, very important… business discussion. You’re… Logan?”

 

"That's right I am and as far as I'm concerned, Forge doesn't need to listen to whatever the fuck you're talking about if he's missing when I come to get him. Took a good chunk of time trying to find him."

 

"The tracker is on!" Forge argued.

 

Logan scratched his head. "Well the tracker doesn't help if everyone's out on missions you know." Forge sighed at that but it honestly wasn't worth arguing about.

 

"Logan can I just have like five more minutes? Go get a beer or something."

 

"Fine. Make it three I just made a scene." Logan grunted.

 

Justin eased his way out of his wrecked Bentley, sighing over the wreckage. He looked to Forge and Logan. He wanted to protest that three minutes wasn’t nearly enough, but he really did not want to get on the hairy stranger’s bad side. Although tracker, that was interesting. As a member of the X-Men it did make a bit of sense that Forge would be kidnapped occasionally… He sighed and waited, fidgeting. Forge walked over and sighed.

 

"He'll pay for the damage don't worry..." He then rubbed his head. "And sorry about that I didn't expect him to get that drastic-"

 

"You got kidnaped last week!" Logan snapped back before wandering off to get something.

 

"....ignoring what he said...I am still sorry." Forge started out with, looking at Justin.

 

“It was a bit… unexpected.” Justin sighed, looking to his smoking car. “And that was my favorite Bentley.” Taking a moment of silence for the totalled car, Justin looked to Forge.

 

“So that’s your minder?”

 

Forge looked at him. "More or less..." He sighed. "He'll be really hard to convince for well, anything. But he's protective for his reasons...I know that....I kind of get kidnapped a lot....or just in bad situations so he's not to fond of me off on my own..." He rubbed his head a little. "So sorry again, I didn't expect him to take that action...er anyways..."

 

“Does this happen often?” Justin looked to him. “Your friend ripping doors of Bentleys and cutting holes in highways. Because that… might be a problem.” It would be a rather large problem, if the man appeared on HI property, especially if he destroyed it. Especially if that was valuable HI property like, say, a prototype, or Justin himself. No, having Mr. Pointy Hair and Claws show up every time Forge stayed out past curfew would not be good for business.

 

"No...only when he gets worried. Which is just at its height at the moment because I got kidnapped..." He rubbed his head. "Which does not happen often but it happened not even a week ago so he's on guard you could say...." He sighed. "He's not always like this...sometimes he's worse but he does listen most of the time. Most being the keyword." Justin nodded, making a bit of a face.

 

“Right. Of course. Well… I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” He looked to Forge. “Why don’t you give me your contact information? A phone number, and your email so I can send you those questions.” He didn’t want to lose track of his asset just because of some pointy midget kidnapping him away.

 

“Uh….just call…” He wrote something down and handed it over to him. “That’s all you need to call and I’ll answer…” Justin took the scrap of paper and checked it, tucking it into his pocket.

 

“No email? That’s fine, I’ll call you and we can set up a meeting after you’ve notified- sorry, asked for permission from your boss.” It was like a kid asking their parents for permission. Justin gave him a tight smile. “And I guess I’ll... call another car.”

 

"My computer is mostly used for running system checks...so no email..." He rubbed his head. "I'll go now...before a bar fight starts." He then began to jog off, yelling another sorry for the car being damaged. Justin shaded his eyes, watching the other jogged away. He sighed, fishing for his phone.

 

"Send a car over to I95 and Vine."

 


	3. Baby Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forge's first day. With maybe a few allusions to some of Forge's less fortunate inventions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe I should mention that this won't seem romantic until it does? I don't know, you guys are the ones with slash goggles. But yeah, this will be slash. Such slash. But like fluffy slash because dey wuv each oder. Pretty sure Justin is doodling "Mrs. Justin Forge" and "JH + F 4ever" in his paperwork. And maybe Forge in his blueprints? Who knows.
> 
> Anyway, have fun with the latest chapter!
> 
> ~Kiro

Forge was nervous, that was a given. Today was the first day he would start working for Hammer Industries. And he had no idea where he was going to go, the details weren't really in stone as far as he was aware. Sighing softly Forge walked into the building, glad that because he had metal limbs he didn't go through the metal detector...well in that sense it was getting checked. It happened almost everywhere he went because somehow he was regarded as a suspicious character. 

 

When he walked inside, he glanced around. Shifting a little bit he tried to figure out exactly what department he was heading to. He wished he understood how places like this worked, but he never had an actual job so how was he supposed to know?

 

A bored-looking secretary watched him from behind a counter. “May I help you?” she called to him. He obviously wasn’t a Hammer Industries employee, though he didn’t have a camera. Chances were he was either here for a delivery or had wandered in the wrong building. Although she supposed he could be one of the replacement interns. Those had a very high mortality rate.

 

"Er-actually I'm a new employee..." He said slowly, looking at secretary. "But I honestly have no idea where I'm trying to go." He rubbed the back of his head. She nodded. It was the last option, then.

 

“Just give me your name and who hired you and we’ll see where you’re going,” she droned, boredly tapping on the computer system.

 

"Forge....and Mr. Hammer hired me..." He said nervously, not sure what else to say. But would she really believe him? The girl looked up at him, subtly reaching for the security button.

 

“...Forge? That’s your legal name?” Everyone knew that Hammer let his HR department handle new hires. This guy was doing a very, very bad impression of a new hire. Yep, there was a twitch and- she spotted a glint of metal. She hurriedly pushed the security call button.

 

"Yes it's my legal name." He frowned then seeing her glance at his arm. "Is there something wrong with that?" He asked, then glanced at his arm. "...you do know it's just my arm that you saw right?"

 

“Your arm…?” She squinted at it. “Sure…” That was definitely metal, and as far as she knew, medieval metal gauntlets had not come back into style. That was some kind of weapon. Heavy footsteps sounded a bit away. 

 

Forge groaned a little and rolled up his sleeve. It was a metallic arm, that didn't have any weapons attached. "An arm." 

 

“Right…” Several heavyset men with pistols at their hips came to surround Forge, one one every side. They glared at him dumbly, folding their arms. The secretary blinked, looking on with lax boredom.

 

"Really?" Forge groaned. "I'm seriously a new worker here! I was hired after a convention...." He didn't like this first impression…

 

“What’s all this?” came a familiar voice from behind the wall of muscle. The security men turned to look to Justin Hammer, parting just a bit. “Forge? What is going on?”

 

Forge was now pouting. "They won't believe me and think that my arm is meant to kill someone..." He already looked so done...just...defeated. No one even knew he was a mutant!

 

“This guy says that he was hired directly by you, Mr. Hammer,” the girl regurgitated. “At some sort of conference. He doesn’t have a badge or a last name.”

 

“Well that’s because I did hire him.” Justin slung an arm around Forge’s shoulders. “Thank you for your vigilance, but I’d rather not have my new miracle man tossed out of his first day.” Justin nodded to the security team. “Go on back to your posts, gentlemen.”

 

Forge was still pouting. He didn't like those men...he hadn't done anything wrong. This was a great start to the first day... "...thanks for helping." Forge glanced up at him.

 

“You’re welcome. Sorry about that, we have to keep security tight here. Hammer Armaments is just down the hall, after all.” Justin guided him away from the scene and through one of the adjoining hallways. He hadn’t expected Forge to be detained. He guessed he should have notified that chick at the front desk beforehand. Ah, well. hindsight is 20/20.

 

Forge nodded and followed him. He rubbed his head. That still was a bad experience, definitely something not to tell the others about if they asked him. Because you know, most wouldn't be to happy.

 

“Right now I just want to get a feel for how you work and where to put you. So, I’ve got free reign of one of the smaller workshops. No one should disturb us.” Actually, is was the exact same workshop that he had put Anton Vanko in when he rebuilt all of those drones that got Justin imprisoned… Ah, memories. But this would be different. He hoped.

 

Forge looked at him and he nodded a little. "Okay..." He said then. "Do you have any plans you want me to look at or just...something else?" He tried to clarify what he was going to be doing.

 

“I have materials, parts, and the plans for some of the prototypes that the R&D department has been working on. Plus several of the prototypes themselves. What I want you to do,” Justin grinned to him, “is just go wild. Improve what you can or show me something new. I want to see what you can do.”

 

"Alright." He knew that wasn't going to be hard. First he was going to make a list of faulty parts and things that could be improved. Then mark what to change them with before getting to work. When done he essentially would have changed everything around, probably anyways.

 

“Great!” Justin led him down several long hallways. “I’ll be in my office working while you do your genius thing. I’ll step in at around twelve to check on you.” Justin was back on his diet after yet another flub a few days ago, so he knew he would be skipping lunch again. He may as well make use of his break to check on his new hire. Reaching a room at the very back of the plant, he spread an arm wide. “And here you are. Plans are over there, raw materials and parts on that wall, tools there, and the prototypes,” he indicated each. “Knock yourself out.”

 

Forge listened. "Okay..." Though from the sound of it wouldn't Justin be missing his lunch break? He's ask him about it later, because that seemed odd. "I'll try my best-oh these really need fixing." He didn't even look close at the prototypes. He just knew. 

 

“I’ll leave you to it, then.” Justin patted Forge weakly on the shoulder and turned to leave. He had a ton of work to do, prototypes to look over, and legalities to find loopholes for. Then there was a pet project he wanted to fit in, and schmoosing with politicians. He was still making up for falling off the wagon a bit ago, so he was only allowed nine hundred calories today, which he had already taken up many of with the cream in his coffee that morning… He did calculations in his head as he left.

 

 

 

* * *

 

At noon the room was now a mess. Parts and pieces everywhere. And Forge hunched over messing with something. But as you looked around you saw all the parts and pieces were original parts of the prototypes. And on a workbench on the opposite side of the room there were brand new prototypes were lined up. Carefully set. Oh and there were tons of paper, everywhere. With things crossed off, circled, and just ripped apart at some parts. Honestly for a few hours he had done a lot and seemed like he was still working on something. Justin gaped around the room, eyes glittering with delight. He picked his way over to one of the prototypes, inspecting it carefully and marvelling at the work done on it. Still marveling, he then made his way over to Forge.

“So how have things been going?”

Forge looked up and put his goggles on top of his head. Setting down the tool he was using since it was rather sharp and did not feel like cutting off a finger on his non-metal hand. "Good. But there really are a lot of flaws in these pieces. Some even had faulty switches that could have cost the life of the one using it in certain cases..." He seemed not at all bothered by the mess or that he had cut open his cheek somehow which now had a bandage on it.

“Which is why they hadn’t been put into production yet,” Justin fibbed just a bit, looking over his work. The pieces would have gone out into production in a few weeks, after they’d had a chance to catch most of the mistakes. The manufacturing would then have been revised as problems appeared in field application. They simply couldn’t afford to keep the weapons in developing until they had every single flaw ironed out.

"I guess though from the looks of it they were close. I basically remade them all for power and protection of the user. Not hard maybe ten minutes for me tops, with plans." He said as rubbed his temple a little as he slightly had a headache from the loud tools he used.

“You’ve done some great work, buddy. What are you up to now?” Justin craned his neck to look at the project the other was working on currently. The only problem they would be having if Forge kept going like this was keeping him supplied.

"Just something of my own device." He glanced at the device. "It's new...kind of not sure what I was going for but I got bored of upgrading the other devices." He explained.

"What is it for? What does it do?" He peered curiously at the white plastic ring, not daring to touch it in case it was dangerous. It probably was, considering. Forge grinned then.

"I don't know yet. I'm making the basics right now before I decide exactly what function it will provide. It seems the smartest at the moment." Justin nodded.

"Well you can take a break when you like. I'm going to look over the prototypes you've finished."

"I'm fine I'm used to working through the night." Forge responded then.

"Still," Justin waved vaguely, picking his way over to inspect one of the finished weapons. Forge shrugged and then tapped his foot as he tried to think, scribbling some ideas down. He might make the object into any of those possibilities. Justin surveyed the newly improved prototypes, picking one up and inspecting its modifications.

“Did you change the extractor in this?” The gun had certainly been opened up and messed with, and Justin thought he could see glints of pieces where there hadn’t been pieces before. He hoped that Forge had made his alterations to the plans and not just to the gun. 

"Had to." Forge looked up. "Everything is noted on the paper next to it." Justin looked to the paper and nodded, picking it up and bringing it close to his face to inspect it. His stomach made a small, sad noise. Forge glanced at him and frowned then.

"Aren't you hungry?" He asked then softly...looking worried...but tried not to express the worry to much. That would seem weird since they didn't really know each other.

“Oh, I’m fine. I just had lunch, I guess I’m still digesting,” Justin gave a thin translucent smile. Just what he needed, someone being curious about his eating habits. He cared enough about his weight, he didn’t need others to, as well. Forge frowned and looked at him.

"Okay...." He didn't believe him. At all... He knew the other wasn't eating with a stomach sound like that... Justin, at Forge's voice of disbelief, decided it was time for him to leave.

"Good work, just keep it up." He stepped away from the gun and towards the door. "I have to get back to work."

Forge sighed a little and looked at what he had. "....yeah..." He was frustrated. Was there not one place he could go where someone was well not having a problem? No...it was impossible it seemed.

Now that Justin thought about it, he was really craving that cherry ice cream he had stashed in his freezer... No. No, he wouldn't go down that path again. Nine hundred calories today, another nine hundred tomorrow. He had to lose weight, he absolutely had to. He was fat and he had to beat the competition. It was all about appearances these days- and he would not let his own body beat him.

Justin gave Forge a translucent smile. "I'll have some guys pick this up for testing and processing."

"....right." He said then softly. "Oh and Xavier made a condition. If a huge mission comes up I have to go. I can't do much else about it because lives are on the line when I'm called in." He said slowly. Justin looked to him, nodding. 

"I'm sure we can make accommodations. I will need to talk with him about what qualifies as a 'huge mission', though. And of course that would be unpaid leave." Justin had to discourage him from running off at every opportunity, after all. 

"Huge mission means someone is at risk of dying." Forge responded then. "And I'm fine with that. I won't worry about money if someone's life is in danger."

"Well technically your life is in danger every time you walk outside, so I wouldn't say that's a good indicator," Justin walked backwards to the door. "I'll just have a chat with him." 

  
"....I know that..." Forge mumbled and sighed. It was obvious how challenging this was but he did have a life outside of this... He leaned back and looked at what he was working on. Justin ducked out the door, happy to bow out on the conversation. He had paperwork to do, plans to revise, and food to avoid. 


	4. Well-Meant Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically Forge gets hurt and Justin sucks at social... well, anything really. To be fair, he means well. He just sucks at the execution.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure who I feel worse for, Justin or Forge. They're both such confused babies... Anyway, I leave this here for you. Neither of us own any of the X-Men or Justin, though I'm pretty sure I could buy Justin from Marvel for like a shoelace and two sticks of gum. Maybe. Point is no one likes him and neither of us authors own any of these people/places/things.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> ~Kiro

The newly-repaired Bentley glided up the drive to the X-Institute. Justin watched the grounds roll by from behind the tinted windows. Ordinarily, he would never make one of these trips himself. He had people for that sort of thing. However, Forge could probably single-handedly provide all of Hammer Armaments’ tech for the next ten years, so Justin had taken a personal interest in his time. He was starting to regret that as the car pulled to a stop outside the main doors, Justin climbing out smoothly and adjusting his violet-tinted shades. His stomach was already roiling from the diet pills he had taken on a newly-emptied stomach, and he could feel his suit clinging to his overly-plentiful body fat.

 

Logan had been outside with some of the kiddos, watching them play. But he glanced over when he heard the car, his ears twitching. The kids seemed to not even notice the car and kept playing. Using their powers freely inside the protected walls of the institute. Logan patted Kitty’s shoulder and began to walk over, not recalling Chuck saying they would be having a visitor. 

 

Justin stiffened when he saw Logan- the man who had wrecked the exact same Bentley he had just ridden in some days ago- walk closer. He waved a bit, giving a close-mouthed smile and hoping the cloud of cologne following him would be able to mask the scent of what he had been doing from Wolverine. Ah, yes, he had done his reading before he had come here. 

 

"Why are you here?" Logan grunted, his arms crossing over his chest. He wasn't friendly, that much was for sure. And honestly Justin's scent was driving him mad. It was too much, and just no, he wasn't appreciative of the scent.

 

“I’m here to speak with Xavier.” Justin restrained the urge to shift and cover himself, instead settling for shoving his hands in his pockets. “Someone should have called ahead on my behalf.” If not, he was going to fire his secretary. Or have her scrub the bathroom with a toothbrush or something. People did that, didn’t they?

 

"Never heard of it so I assume not. Chuck also hasn't said anything." He huffed and narrowed his eyes as he approached. "Why do you smell like this? I know from your gaze you know that I can tell. So why do you smell like this?" He narrowed his eyes.

 

“Ah, well,” Justin gave an embarrassed little smile, covering his translucent teeth. “There was a bit of an accident, a neighbor’s dog is sick and,” he shrugged, “I didn’t really want to leave a bad impression when I came.” Which was as blatant a lie as there was, but Justin had confidence in his acting abilities. 

 

Logan sighed and he rubbed his head. "You're such a bad liar, especially when it comes to lying to me." He grunted. "And honestly, that doesn't give much excuse to how you smell to me. But I'll let you off for now..." He then began to walk inside. "I'll take you to Chuck's office-" He opened the door then stepped to the side as Kurt darted out and went to where Kitty was standing. "..." Logan sighed and walked in.

 

Justin let his now-strained smile fall. He nodded to his driver and made his way after Logan. He blinked, looking after Kurt, but shook his head slightly and turned forward. That was right, he had to remember. This place was a home for mutants, actual mutants who looked different than everyone else, not just geniuses with metal limbs and violent midgets with metal claws.

 

"Say one thing about any of these kiddos and I will cut you to pieces." Logan warned as he ruffled the hair of a young girl who giggled and ran off then. Logan smiled then kept walking, heading to the right side of the mansion.

 

“Right…” Justin believed him, too. He knew dangerous people when he saw them, and Logan was one of them. Justin looked around at the guts of the mansion, mentally comparing them to his own and finding his own lacking. Of course.

 

Logan stopped by a door and was about to knock just as Ororo walked out and looked at him. She gave a kind smile then excused herself and walked off to go fix dinner. Logan stepped inside then. "Chuck you have a visit." He said and Charles looked up. Justin moved inside behind Logan, giving Charles a close-mouthed smile.

 

“Professor Xavier.”

 

Charles blinked then motioned for him to sit. "Justin Hammer...may I ask why you decided to come here?" He asked. Logan leaned on the wall…

 

“I wanted to discuss some things with you… alone, hopefully.” Justin glanced to Logan, who he didn’t exactly trust in the room or at his back.

 

"Logan-" Charles began but Logan shook his head.

 

"I'm not goin anywhere. Especially if this is involvin' Forge." Charles sighed.

 

"Even I know when I won't get anywhere with him. I'm sorry for his behaviour." Xavier apologized. 

 

“Well, I guess it isn’t that sensitive a topic.” Justin shifted and gave a nervous smile, putting his back to the door. Again, he resisted the urge to cover himself. He ended up merely tugging at his suit jacket, settling it to cover his abdomen, hopefully covering how fat he truly was. “I’m sorry I’m here without warning, it looks like I’ll have to get a new secretary,” he tried for an enigmatic smile. 

 

"It's fine but I do wish to know why you are visiting. It's not everyday someone...well you know. Comes here." He said slowly and folded his hands together. 

 

“I’m here to talk about Forge. I want to get a few things ironed out so there aren’t any… misunderstandings in the future.” Justin gave a thin smile.

 

"Of course." Xavier nodded. "Do you wish for him to be here as well-"

 

"Chuck we sent him out on a mission this morning because they needed his hacking skills."

 

"Oh yes-they should be back soon-."

 

“Good, great, yeah… Well he can join us when he gets back then. That’s actually what I wanted to speak with you about, his missions. Specifically when he would skip work to go on them.”

 

Charles looked at him calmly. "Unlike what you may think missions don't happen as often as you would expect." 

 

“I just want to make sure that if something happens, I won’t be out of my best engineer. Now I understand kidnappings, injuries, that sort of thing, but spur-of-the-moment missions?” Justin gave a sleazy smirk. “Well I run a business, I can’t just have people running out the door whenever they have something better to do.”

 

"I understand that, and he will only be called out if we absolutely need him...and that's rare. Forge isn't a fighter...we normally only need him if it's dire." Xavier explained before pausing for a moment. He seemed to be getting a communication as that did happen. "....Logan go to the basement they're back...." He had a grim look.

 

"Shit..." Logan then cursed before leaving the room, jogging off. 

 

"Can you wait here for just a moment? This matter is very pressing..." Xavier looked at Justin.

 

“Sure…” Justin looked from Xavier to where Logan had jogged off. He wondered what exactly that was about. Xavier nodded and then left, rolling himself out of the room as he was in a wheelchair. Shortly, Xavier came back still looking grim. 

 

"I'm afraid we might need to cut this short...the team we sent out didn't come back....nicely."

 

“What happened?” Justin asked, curious despite himself.  He pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning against, hands stuffed in his pockets.

 

"..." Xavier looked at him. "They were attacked by sentinels. Critical injuries. I will inform you if Forge is alright by Monday. I can't say right now. He was badly hit...and with his metal limbs it badly burned him." Justin frowned.

 

"You have the medical facilities to deal with that, right?" It was just hitting him that he might not just lose a few hours of genius to these missions- he could lose the entire genius. Which he was not ready to do since he had just found said genius.

 

"Yes but as you know Forge is a special case. Only he can repair his metallic limbs or deal with the injuries surrounding them without potentially damaging his nerves. He recovers fast, so that is reassuring."

 

"If it helps, I have facilities, resources..." Justin offered nervously..

 

"I'm afraid we'd have to decline. Such things would be useless for Forge if the word got out that he's a mutant. It's very dangerous for him to even be working for you and using his talents. If you understand...I don't want to risk people finding out especially with MRD ready to kill any mutant..."

 

"Trust me, Hammer Industries has just as much invested in keeping his mutant status a secret as he does. If word gets out and the stockholders find out, HI is as good as dead." Justin shrugged. "I can be very discreet when I want to be. So the offer is still open."

 

"We can't do that bub. For Forge's sake it's not what will happen." Logan was in the doorway. "I'm not lettin him outta here until he can at least stand and not collapse. So go ahead and go home." He turned around and stalked off.

 

"I... Guess that's my cue. It was great to meet you, Professor," Justin nodded to him and strode for the door. Apparently that was all he was going to get from this trip all the way out to the middle of nowhere. That... And a peek at his charge on the way out. To make sure he wouldn't be expecting a funeral invitation instead of a body in work a few days late..

 

Xavier nodded calmly and then went back to his desk. The infirmary wasn't that hard to find, well the one upstairs wasn't. It had two people in it, one being a man made of pure metal and asleep...and Forge. Who was also asleep but was badly hurt. The places where his arm and leg connected were burned and he had a good gash along his face. But those were the only things visible, the rest hidden by the blankets. Justin frowned and moved over to his bedside. He wasn't great with blood, and the sight of the injuries made his stomach constrict. Forge was resting rather peacefully, but showed signs of pain here and there. 

 

The cut across his head was stitched up already, and disinfected. However not much had been done about his arm and leg, there was not much that could be done. Justin looked to the metal limbs lying on a table nearby, moving to them. Now this he could work with. Justin was horrible at creating new designs, but if he was given something solid he could work backwards and recreate it or fill in the blanks. He picked up a wrecked arm and turned it over in his hands, inspecting the damaged areas.

 

The arm was almost ripped to shreds, but the wiring was still almost in mint condition, even if it had fallen out of place in some parts, giving it a very damaged look. The socket where it attached was also slightly damaged but not as bad as the rest of the arm. It just needed a little smoothing out. The exterior however needed new metal or else it would collapse. It was badly burned and molded away from the shape of an arm.

 

Justin frowned and set the arm down gently. He moved back to Forge and hooked a finger in the blanket, pulling it down to reveal his arm and where the flesh capped into metal. Pulling out his phone, he took a flurry of pictures of the metal fittings, then did the same for Forge's leg before covering him again. Forge didn't stir. He simply kept sleeping, curled against himself. To say the least he was exhausted, so nothing was really affecting him at the moment. 

 

Turning away and slipping his phone back in his pocket, Justin gently picked up the limbs and tucked them under his arms. He found himself wishing that he had his golf caddy or at least a less-inconspicuous duffle bag. Even for him, carrying detached metal limbs around was not something normal. With one last look back at Forge, Justin left the infirmary, resolving to have the limbs fixed and returned before the other woke. Just to make sure he was up and going as quick as possible, Justin told himself.

 

Logan had spotted him and gave it a thought but at some point Justin would have to come back....yes then he would enact the anger he felt watching that cocky man. He huffed and turned around to head elsewhere, hoping Forge was at least not awake.

 

Justin hurried out the door, making his way back out to his waiting car. He planned to get home, immediately start on figuring out Forge's limbs, and maybe take another dozen diet pills. He'd have to be careful not to mess up on the tech, and probably not to overdose, either.


	5. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Justin gets punched in the face. He tries to make up for it.

To Logan, punching Justin when he saw him next was a good idea. Because that was exactly what he did. And he was sure it would leave a pretty good black eye. "Tch." He huffed, giving Justin a good glare. The punch hurt a lot more than expected, but of course Logan had metallic bones.

 

Justin gasped and brought his hand to his eye, catching the broken halves of his glasses. He squinted up at the brown blur that was Logan. "What was that for?!" 

 

"Simply put Forge had no idea what the hell was going on, and had no arm or leg. So I feel like this is well deserved in place." Logan grunted.

 

"I fixed them!" Justin motioned to his bag with the one hand that wasn't holding his glasses to his face. "Done! No work for him, and they should be fully functional."

 

Logan sighed. "You could have said something." He responded simply then, shaking his head. "But you didn't. If it wasn't for me spottin ya before you'd be in a lot more trouble. It panicked Forge."

 

"I meant to be back before he woke," Justin said, sheepish despite himself. He could feel himself rapidly falling into the old pattern of cower, apologize, yes-I'll-do-your-homework-for-you-please-don't-punch-me-again. He made a conscious effort to straighten and sneer, banishing those demons. "Besides, he has other pairs he could use if he was up and walking again."

 

Logan sighed a little. "Still." He grumbled. "He's in his room upstairs...I'll lead you there." Justin huffed and nodded, still awkwardly clutching his glasses at the bridge. Logan walked up the stairs then and headed to where Forge's room was. He carefully stepped back after tapping on the door to tell Forge that someone was there. "Go in." Justin looked to him, or the brown blur that was in his peripheral, and nodded, pushing the door open with his unoccupied hand.

 

Forge looked up at the door and blinked a little bit. "Justin...wait are those my limbs?!" He looked at him, very confused.

 

“Ah,” Justin shifted the bag over his shoulder, from which a metal hand peeked, “Yeah, they are.” He fumbled with his glasses before just sliding one half into his pocket and peering one-eyed through the other lense. “I fixed them. They should be ready to go.”

 

Forge sweatdropped... "I appreciate it really...but you should have asked me..." He said softly. He looked a lot less lively than he normally did, and still had stitches on his head.

 

“Well you were unconscious, so I couldn’t exactly ask you for permission.” Justin frowned at him, setting down the bag on the table and squinting through his makeshift monocle. “...Are you alright?”

 

"I guess....but still....and yes I am feeling better. I'm still pretty banged up though." Forge smiled weakly. "I guess I got pretty roughed up even though I can't remember a lot of what happened."

 

“You got a head injury? With memory loss?” Justin frowned. His asset was damaged. He would never find another one if, say, Forge didn’t remember physics formulas.

 

Forge laughed a little. "Only the battle. I got blasted with something and fell unconscious." He explained, and looked at him. "I'll be fine soon."

 

“Great. I’ll be seeing you in the workshop soon, then?” They desperately needed him back. The grunts were having trouble interpreting Forge’s alterations and notes, and Justin couldn’t do it all himself. Well, he could, but that would mean sacrificing precious time networking with Stern, say, or wading through red tape to find loopholes.

 

"As soon as I can walk again, I should be able to. I have to get the clear...also er I should ask something. What happened to your eye and glasses?" He questioned. Justin blinked.

 

“Oh, your minder, the one with the pointy hair and mutton chops.” He waved demonstratively. “...You wouldn’t happen to know where they keep the medical tape around here, do you?” Medical tape was always the best for taping glasses together temporarily. He knew from experience. Though having whole glasses probably wouldn’t help much, since his eye was already starting to swell shut.

 

Forge leaned to his left and then tossed some to Justin. "Have some in here just in case. And I'm sorry about Logan...he's had a bad temper lately. And I mean a bad bad temper." Justin tried and failed to catch the flying medical tape, hearing it fall to the floor. He grimaced and crouched, looking around for where it had fallen.

 

“I didn’t know that he had any such thing as a good temper,” Justin joked lightly as he groped towards the white blob on the tile.

 

"Sorry..." Forge said when the tape fell. He did feel bad that it happened. Maybe handing it would be a better idea but with no right arm that might be challenging.  "He does at times. Not all the time but he does. It's mostly when someone hasn't told him something to make him snap....which isn't a lot of times."

 

“He’s the type that has to know everything, then. I can respect that.” Justin’s hand finally landed on the tape and he picked it up, feeling to make sure it was actually tape and not a blocky, stale doughnut or something. He took the other half of his glasses out of his pocket and awkwardly started taping them together.

 

"He's very protective...surprisingly." Forge laughed a little bit. "Anyways...thanks again for fixing the limbs...eheh..." He rubbed the back of his head. He was angry with Justin for that and other reasons as well...but he would keep his mouth shut for now.

 

“Right… I guess you’ll be wanting them now?” Justin finished taping his glasses and shoved them on his face before grimacing and taking them back off to clean them. Apparently Logan had more grease than hair on his knuckles, if that was even possible.

 

"Ah yes please...I would like to function normally." He chuckled a little bit and looked at Justin. "You can make Logan pay for another pair. He probably would."

 

“I’m afraid these glasses are priceless. One of a kind- or at least close enough not to matter to his wallet. The repair, he could pay for, but that would probably out him his beer budget for the next six months.” Justin sighed, settling the glasses back on his nose. He then opened up the bag on his shoulder and took out the fully repaired arm, holding it out hand-first to Forge. “Leg, too?”

 

"Oh I see...and actually...Eheh...he's richer than you think." He looked over at the other. "He's told some of us about how much he has....I can't tell you why but no it's not illegal money." Forge said, dismissing the fact it could be. Forge took the arm and carefully began to attach it. "Well, it would be nice to walk...." Justin nodded and handed the leg to Forge as well.

 

“If you think he’d really like to part with about twenty two thousand dollars at least, I’ll bring it up the next time he plants a fist in my face.” A price which he was very certain not many would be willing to pay. He had, of course, but only because he simply could not live without his eyes. And also because he was filthy rich. You couldn’t forget that part.

 

Forge chuckled and connected the two limbs. "You'd be surprised. He's normally the one who has to pay for the Black Bird's repairs, and that's a lot more than what you just named....especially since he destroys it daily..." Forge's eyebrow twitched. Justin frowned at that. It was definitely disconcerting, since he made a point of getting to know everyone with a certain amount of money and influence and getting into their good books (unless they were direct competitors). He had definitely lost that chance now. 

 

Forge rubbed his head a little. "..." Then looked back at Justin as he kept looking back and forth around the room. He couldn't fix his eyes on any one thing for a long time it seemed....

 

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Justin asked. Ordinarily he wouldn’t care or pay attention, but if the blow to the head had impacted Forge’s vision or given him some sort of seizure of the eye...

 

"I'm fine." He assured with a nod. He smiled. "I'm assuming you should get back to work." He said then. "I'll be back eventually." He assured.

 

“Well I’ll need to fix these, which will take me at least a day,” Justin sighed, “So yes, I should get going.” Justin nodded to him and made his way to the door.

 

Forge nodded and then leaned back. He closed his eyes slowly...knowing he should get some rest. But, he was worried. To say the least…


	6. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forge finally confronts Justin on his nasty habits. Justin gets feisty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should remind you that I really, really don't have an eating disorder and I have never had conversations with anyone who has. I don't know about my cowriter, either. I tried to do my best with Justin's denial but, hey, if you think this is really wrong maybe tell me about it in the comments. 'Kay?
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
> 
> ~Kiro

The busty secretary popped her gum, looking lazily up at the intruder. “Can I help you?” she asked boredly, looking unimpressed.

 

"Um I need to ask a question." Forge rubbed his head, looking at the secretary.

 

"Yeah?" She popped her gum loudly, looking down to her flappy birds game.

 

"....well does Mr. Hammer happen to have any relatives?" He asked. She blinked and squinted up at him.

 

“Hell if I know. I’ve only had this job a week. He doesn’t have a ring, I know that.” Forge sighed at that, it wasn't very helpful. He shook his head and began to walk away. “I can see if I can find something in his schedule or something,” she offered boredly. Forge glanced back.

 

"...okay." He said then slowly, maybe that would help. He just needed something...anything to go off of. The girl clicked away on the computer, popping her gum boredly.

 

“He doesn’t have anything personal except for a golf games with Senator Stern… and tennis with a congressman… Oh, there’s a socialite’s party he’s going to at the end of the month… but that’s it.” She did some more clicking. “No one’s in his contacts listed as ‘mom’ or ‘mother’ or ‘demon bitch from hell’ or anything. Wait,” she squinted, “no, that must be his ex-wife.” Forge slowly nodded then...did that mean Justin didn't have anyone? If so...that left everything up to him...

 

"Thanks...." He took a deep breath and began to walk off.

 

"Sure thing," the girl nodded and turned back to her flappy birds game..

 

* * *

Forge waited for an opening in Justin's schedule before he dared to approach him...he carefully knocked on the door and took a deep breath. Time for the moment of truth....

 

"Come in," came the muffled invitation. Justin was in the middle of a mountain of paperwork- paperwork for the government contract he had just received for Forge-designed weapons. It was the biggest contract HI had scored in two years.

 

Forge slowly walked in then and took a deep breath. How was he going to even begin this? It wasn't a simple topic to bring up....or say...how was he going to do this... Justin looked up from his desk, frowning. Forge had never visited his office before. Justin had been expecting an intern with coffee or maybe one of his lawyers or department heads.

 

"Forge? Is there a problem?"

 

"Well kind of yes..." He held the papers he had loss to him. He took a deep breath once more as he walked up slowly....

 

"Did something go wrong with your supply shipment?" Justin frowned. What could possibly be the problem?

 

"No it's not that..." Forge then sighed. "I was worried alright. I knew something was wrong and I finally figured it out which made me more worried. Before you say anything...it started to become obvious that you were losing a lot of weight...an unhealthy amount...I guess this sounds really stupid coming from someone like me...but it does worry me..." He kind of glanced away… Justin blinked and frowned.

 

“Well I really don’t think it’s any of your business, but I’ve been on a diet recently.” An extended diet that he lost control of often. Justin mentally cursed himself for that, and for not being careful enough if one of his new hires got suspicious.

 

"This isn't a diet it's a mental health condition..." Forge looked at him. "A very serious once at that...."  He looked at him. "And I know it isn't but I couldn't just stand back and watch...that's not the kind of person I am..."

 

“Watch what?” Justin sat back and gave one of his polite stage laughs, the ones he preserved for press conferences and important hosts. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I definitely don’t have a mental health condition, whatever made you think that.” See, you’re getting nowhere. It’s best just to let it go, Justin thought at Forge.

 

Forge looked at him. "I'm a stubborn asshole." He said then simply. "And I'm not stupid about things like this no matter what you may think....I know it's mental. And I want to help...because I'm the only one who will aren't I?" He looked at him sadly....  "Please...listen to me..." 

 

“No, you listen to me.” Justin sat up straighter in his chair, what he considered to be his ‘dangerous CEO’ body language. “This isn’t your place to worry about anything like that. I can and will do things to your funding and supplies if you keep making outrageous accusations like that.” Which was halfway a bluff, in fact Justin couldn’t afford to cut Forge’s anything, but he couldn’t let him just say things like that. “You’re my employee. If I wanted someone to tell me I was messed in the head I would get a shrink.”

 

Forge was getting frustrated. "....I'm trying to help...I'm trying to FUCKING help! Because dammit I care! I care!...but I guess you won't even listen to me huh....I guess Logan was right that I'm an idiot to try and make a difference...and you know what I'm not scared about anything you tell me. I don't need this job....the school has enough funding without this..." He left the papers on the desk as he began to walk out. "...I hate watching people go through things like this alone..." 

 

Justin looked down to the papers, hurriedly snatching them up and creasing them in his tight grip. “Wait!” He could not have anyone going to press, especially if what they said was even remotely true. And Justin had lost a lot of weight lately, which would lose him his libel suit right there. Besides, if even rumors got out, Hammer Industries’ stock would tank.

 

Forge turned around and looked at Justin... He looked so tired now. It was clear how much effort he was trying to put into this to help him. "....yes?" 

 

“Don’t… got to the press. You can understand what a mess that would make for the both of us.” Justin’s politician smile appeared, more strained than before. “And… What is this?”

 

"The press already hate me...and they're research papers. I looked into what I was talking about, before coming here...because I wasn't going to make a false accusation...." 

 

Justin looked down at the papers, flipping and skimming through them. “I- this- this isn’t…” Justin gulped. “This doesn’t mean anything! It’s not like a few pages from WebMD can really tell you… anything…” he tapered off, throat closing as he flipped to another page, and read through that one, too.

 

Forge watched him silently. "Five different .gov websites. That's all I printed out. All over the same topic..." He said softly... 

 

“Well obviously this is wrong,” Justin set down the pages. “I’m just on a diet, and it’s working just fine… It’s not unhealthy, and I don’t obsess...”

 

"Justin...look me in the eyes and tell that to me." Forge said then and looked at him. "Tell me it's just a diet...tell me that you know none of that info is true." 

 

“It’s…” Justin hesitated, glancing up to Forge, then back to the papers. “It’s not anything permanent, really. And I hardly do any of this.”

 

"....but you still do...and something else...I can tell that this isn't enough....you mentioned a diet...does that have to do with the pills people say make you lose weight?" He frowned slowly.... "Please I want to help...." Justin looked to him , then closed his eyes tightly. After a moment, he sat back.

 

“They’re like those, except these actually work. They’re not exactly FDA approved, but my doctor has some connections…”

 

"....Justin...." Forge was getting more and more worried as he listened to him. "That's not good..." He said slowly, taking a deep breath. "You've lost...too much weight."

 

“I’m fine. If anything, I’m finally nearing a normal weight.” He still wasn’t anywhere close to the right weight, though. Hardly anyone looked twice at him, or if they did it was in disgust. All Justin had was fat.

 

"....no your wrong..." Forge walked over to him. "Take this from me...you're at a weight that's not good or healthy for you....you're wrong this weight doesn't make you look better...it's worse...you keep getting skinnier and skinnier and it's not a good thing...I guess this sounds really really weird but you did look better when you HAD more weight...not now....please this isn't good for you...." Justin shook his head.

 

“You’re mistaken. Sure, you look good enough because you have muscles, but I just can’t look like that. So I’m taking what I can get.” Besides, Justin didn’t exactly have the time to exercise. And no one took a ripped CEO seriously. Nor did they take a fat one seriously. Justin just had to look good- thin- for the cameras.

 

"...." Forge then took a deep breath... He kissed Justin, grabbing his collar. "You idiot...stop thinking about them...stop thinking your not amazing because you are. But the man I fell in love with is not the one in front of me that is starving himself..." He let go then and glanced away, prepared for all the negative remarks he was about to get. How he was probably going to be called disgusting and everything else associated with gays... He tried though....and that was the last thing up his sleeve…

 

Justin, who had been hauled up half-out of his chair when Forge had grabbed his collar, fell to the floor when he let go. The chair spun away behind him, but Justin was just staring blankly at his employee, brain struggling to comprehend. “...Wha…?” he said intelligently, mouth agape. He was probably hallucinating. No, he was definitely hallucinating. He had passed out at his desk thanks to low blood sugar, again, and was now dreaming a fever-dream involving odd love confessions.

 

"...it's not a dream....I would know because that took all my courage. And for what...you probably just hate me like everyone else. I'm not even a good mutant. My power doesn't do anything in the field...just gets me in trouble...I'm useless and this proves it..." He sighed. Justin blinked, unsteadily climbing to his feet and pulling his chair back beneath him.

 

“I… have a government contract here that says the exact opposite is true.” Justin stared at him for another moment. “Also, what the hell was that?”

 

Forge sighed and looked at him slowly. "....that was how I feel. Go ahead tell me I'm disgusting I'm not surprised...." He closed his eyes... "I'm so insistent because I don't want to lose you or see you keep hurting yourself like this..."

 

“That’s not… it.” Justin said awkwardly. “But I’m not hurting myself. I’m doing just fine, really. You… surprised me.” Money. That had to be it. Money or publicity. Those had to be Forge’s motivations.

 

Forge looked at him frustrated. "You're not getting it!" He said then. "I just want to help! That's all I want to do...." He couldn't do this anymore...he was at the point that he knew nothing he did or said would affect Justin by now... "I'm leaving...." He mumbled and turned around. He was so done.... He couldn't do much more...just he couldn't.

 

Justin stared after Forge, uncertain. Forge didn’t seem like he was lying, but he certainly couldn’t be telling the truth. No one liked Justin, that was just a fact of life, much less did they… no. He knew he was fat and he smelled like vomit half the time, which could not be attractive, and his hair was thinning, and he had to bleach his teeth constantly and spray tan his skin to look remotely normal. There was no way… No way. And, Justin added silently in his head, no way that he was bulimic. That was just preposterous.


	7. Bandaids over Black Holes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Justin ignores what happened and asks Forge on a date. Logan hates him a lot.

Justin unfolded himself from the back seat of the cab, sticking his hands into his pockets. He looked like he was drowning in khakis and a polo shirt that he was quite sure he hadn't worn since '96, and his usual air of arrogance and stink of cologne was gone. He looked around at the beautiful grounds of the institute and made his way towards the door.

 

The doors opened easily but no one really cared to look at him. Logan was growling from where he was on the couch. "He's in his room but make him more upset and I swear..." He warned before turning back to face the TV. They all more or less left him to find his way. Justin edged past them, making his way to where he remembered Forge's room to be. Taking a breath and straightening his posture, he knocked just loudly enough to be clearly heard.

 

"....come in..." It wasn't really a voice with emotional attachment of any kind...just kind of a monotone response. Justin opened the door and took a step inside, looking around for Forge.

 

What he more or less found was Forge under the covers of his bed, not even facing him. "I know you're not Storm so who is this?" Didn't even bother to look out.

 

"It's Justin. You haven't come in this week." Justin shut the door softly.

 

"....yeah I know..." Forge mumbled, still not looking out.

 

"You didn't take my speculation to heart, did you? You aren't being fired or cut off." Justin tried for a friendly smile.

 

"I'm surprised. But it's only because I'm just a useful tool for you. I know that. I'm not stupid..."

 

“Well that is part of it. I wouldn’t be pragmatic if I let you waste away, or let you go. Which is why I’m here.”

 

"Then what do you want?" Forge mumbled.

 

“Well I’d like for you to come back to work, that’s my main goal.” Justin moved forward, closer to Forge. He knew that he looked like crap, but he wasn’t sure that Forge would look any better if he ever emerged from his fortress of fluffy blankets.

 

"I know that. It's obvious..." He mumbled then. "Then what other than that is your goal?"

 

“I figured getting you out of that mound of misery would be a good start.” Justin prodded at one side of the lump.

 

Forge sighed a little. "It's warm and comfy...and I look like shit." He mumbled then. Forge wasn't one who used foul language often at all.

 

“So do I, we’ll match.” Justin put his hand on his hip. “If you’re not going to come out, then at least invite me in. It’s only polite.”

 

"...you're already in my room." Forge responded then.

 

“I’m not in your big, comfy blanket cave, though.” Justin half-wondered to himself what he thought he was doing. The other half told him to stuff it and grinned at the hidden mutant.

 

"...." There was hesitation but a piece of the cover lifted up. "...if you want..." He mumbled. Justin kicked off his shoes and was below the covers before Forge could take it back. Upon finding himself so close to the other, he faltered, but forced himself to lay on his back rather than flee.

 

“It is comfy in here.”

 

Forge glanced at him. "It's warm." There was light but only because Forge had a phone with him. He was kind of sitting up, on the pillows but not in a way... His eyes flickered away.

 

“So. Now that I’m in your fortress of solitude, why haven’t you been coming in?” Justin could guess, had guessed, but didn’t want to discuss anything he didn’t have to.

 

Forge sighed. "Not up to anything. Haven't even been messing around with the jet..." He mumbled.  Oh and also I’m a screw up and I can't do anything right. I can't even help you properly, and I screwed it all up.

 

Justin glanced to him, then up at the roof of the blanket-tent. “Are you more of a beer or wine or champagne person?”

 

"None. I don't drink unless I'm dragged into it..." Forge responded softly. Justin sighed.

 

“Alright, then would you rather have street vendor hot dogs, a very expensive dinner, or something in between.”

 

Forge looked at him. "For one why are you asking me these things? And for two something in between."

 

Justin gave him a slightly confused look. “Well, I do need to know where to take you on a date. That is what you wanted, wasn’t it? I’m more than happy to go along with that.”

 

Forge blinked then...and he looked at him. "...eh?" Then he rubbed his head. "...are you just doing this just because...or is it something else? Because I'm pretty sure you were mad at me for that...." He mumbled. Were his feelings being played with?

 

"Eh," Justin flicked his wrist dismissively. "Forget about that. I," he smirked and poked Forge in the center of the chest, "am going to take you out." Forgive and forget, shove it in a box and never speak of it again, that was Justin's personal motto. He was the king of denial.

 

Forge looked at him...he still wasn't sure exactly why this was happening... He rubbed his head. "....okay..." He said slowly... But wouldn't this make a bad image?

 

"Great! I'll find some small place in the middle of nowhere, pay off the staff, and it’ll be great.” A little coffee, flirting over some hopefully not god-awful food, and hopefully end the date at one of Justin’s places.

 

Forge nodded slowly, he was slightly embarrassed. He didn't expect this to happen...at all. This was just so much for him to take on and deal with. But...he was happy… Justin looked over to Forge, sliding his hands beneath his head, and poking Forge’s waist with an elbow in the process. Forge slightly jumped and looked at him. He blinked a few times.... 

 

“Now I’ll be seeing you on Monday, and then Friday night. I can pick you up here, unless you want to go right after work. Really, going right after work would be a lot less hassle, since we’re all the way in, where is this, Salem?” 

 

"O-okay..." Forge stammered. This was a lot at the moment, and it was more than just...simple. "It's not that far out but okay....." He said slowly... 

 

“Still, I’ll pick you up when you get off work. It’ll take me ‘til then to find a decent place, so I can’t say where we’ll be going. Don’t worry about what to wear, though, you’ll probably get grease on it anyway.”

 

Forge slowly nodded then. "Okay..." He said slowly. His heart fluttered. He did feel happy...this was a lot though...and...and was it really happening...? He wasn't sure…

 

“Great. Actually, how do you feel about Italian? Chinese? French, I’m a big fan of French cuisine. Not so much Indian, though sometimes I can do Greek if I’m in the mood. You’re not some secret Indian fan are you? Because that’s really not something I can compromise on.”

 

"Hold on that's a lot of talking." Forge chuckled then, that was probably the first time Justin saw a smile like that from Forge. "Anything is fine, really....now you probably should go...there is a angry feral behind you...staring at us..." Justin peeked over the edge of the blankets at the doorway and gulped.

 

“Hey, I’m not doing anything here, just hanging in a blanket fort. You aren’t really going to claw me for a blanket fort that isn’t even mine, are you?” he asked hopefully.

 

"Yer time is up, Bub. It's time to leave." Logan warned then. Forge peaked out just a bit.

 

"You're very angry." He said slowly then went back under fully, and glanced at Justin. "Oh he would..." Justin sighed and sat up, disrupting the blanket fort. He swung his stringy legs out and slipped out from beneath the blankets, hands up.

 

“I’m up, I’m up, see? No explosive devices or anything. Just give me time to grab my shoes and I’ll leave. I do need to call a cab and wait for it, so you’ll have to wait that long.”

 

Logan snorted. "Fine, just get out of here, Bub." He stated and turned around to leave for that moment...though he would be back if he didn't leave soon. Justin watched him leave and started slipping on his loafers.

 

“I guess that’s my cue. Don’t miss me too much, you can come see me on Monday if you want, or not. Maybe I’ll bring coffee next time I visit- actually what is your coffee order? And you never answered my question about Italian.”

 

"Just...just let it be for now and go before Logan claws your head off." Forge responded, ignoring what Justin said... He wasn't sure Justin was actually happy to see him in any other way than working anyways…

 

“So you’re just not going to tell me how you feel about Italian? Really, I thought I’d met passive-aggressive, but that probably tops the chart. Besides, he probably wouldn’t actually claw my head off. I came, I made you smile, we’re going on a date, I’d color that progress.” Justin straightened the hem of his polo and started for the door. “Well, email me if you decide on food preferences.”

 

"I don't have preferences, I tried saying that earlier." Forge then chuckled a little. "And well you never know...he's still not friendly." He slowly rubbed his head.

 

“Yeah, I caught that. Has anyone suggested anger management classes to that guy?” Justin edged his way closer to the door, not wanting to leave despite himself. His place was empty and barren, all the staff gone at this time of day. 

 

"Do you really think we could convince him to do that without getting into fights and being arrested?" Forge responded simply.

 

“Probably not. Well, not without a lot of sedatives and an endless supply of burly guys on standby.” Justin shrugged and leaned against the doorjamb. “I do have resources. There’s probably some facility that I could dump enough money into to take him, but that doesn’t mean it would be effective.”

 

"Let's not even try. He's needed here and it’s best not for him to come back and be MORE angry than he is now..he destroys enough as it is." Forge sighed…

 

“The jet, right? Every damn day?” Justin gave him a little finger gun. “I remember. Still, you’d think someone would have tried it before now.” Forge shrugged.

 

"...anyways maybe you should get going..." He said slowly. "I don't want him to get angry with you...more than he is."

 

“Really, I thought the ‘I’m about to murder you’ face was a cover for his cuddly and loveable carebear interior.” By the tone of his voice it wasn’t quite obvious if Justin meant that sarcastically or not. Forge sweatdropped lightly at that...looking at him. He leaned back then slowly in his bed. He didn't have a comeback for that. “Well, I’m off.” Justin gave a little wave and turned to leave, half-expecting that, with his luck, Logan would be right behind him ready to stick his head on a pike.

  
"Right." Forge gave a light wave. Logan was waiting but just to make sure that Justin left. He still wasn't too happy...but at least he wasn't as bad as when Justin walked in. Justin gave him a jaunty wave as he passed and sat on the curb, dialing up a cab. He looked particularly small in his oversized clothes, like a doll in a child’s clothing.


	8. The Perfect Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically just Justin and Forge's date.

Forge took a deep breath, it was Friday...and it was supposed to be the day he had his date with Justin. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he was ready. He stood, waiting for Justin as everything ran through his mind. Yet, he took a deep breath to calm himself. Half of these situations shouldn't be possible...but they might. No, he shouldn't be thinking about them... Just to keep calm and have fun. Yeah that shouldn't be hard.

 

Justin straightened his more-casual-than-usual clothes and placed a smile on his face before waving open the doors to Forge’s workshop. “Hey. You ready to go? Sorry I kept you waiting, meeting ran a bit late,” he lied. It had taken him thirty minutes to settle on an outfit, then to choose again and change and finally work up the courage to step foot outside his office. He had gotten a few odd looks, but he was here now. 

 

Forge looked at Justin. "Yes I'm ready, and it's fine." He had to admit Justin looked...good. Much better than him by far since he didn't really have suits so he had to compromise with the fanciest clothing he had. That is, a white shirt and some very nice pants. Justin smiled.

 

“Great. Well, my driver’s waiting just outside. I hope you like Italian, I found a place that has good reviews and is far enough away that no one should care about celebrities. And it should be just the two of us, seeing as I bought the place out. I hear they have great pizza and a killer low-fat caesar salad.”

 

Forge tried to ignore the second thing on Justin's last sentence. But he smiled. "Alright." Though as Justin talked, he got extremely nervous. He was actually going on a date. To a restaurant. With Justin. He was very happy, but he was still worried about ulterior motives...oh well. For now he would just think about the date.

 

“Great! Come on, we ought to leave now if we want to have you back home at a decent time. I don’t want to see Mama Bear if I have you out past your bedtime.” Justin motioned for Forge to follow.

 

Forge pouted. "He won't get angry if I'm home late." He responded as he followed Justin. He didn't want to show that he did indeed rely heavily on the others...because he didn't want them always breathing down his neck if he knew it would be okay.

 

“You did tell him you would be out later today, right? Because my Bentley just got fixed and I don’t want a repeat of last time. Also, yes he totally would. He wrecked my Bentley on a public highway when you were five minutes late for him picking you up. He’d be a thousand times worse if he thought I was feeling you up in some corn field.”

 

Forge had a very smart ass reply but the last part just made him stutter and have to regain his composure. He took a deep breath and calmed down. "Actually I didn't give them a time I’d be home...so we'll be fine, and for the record that was only because he was my ride." Forge responded. Justin looked to him, giving him a teasing smile.

 

“You’re sure? I’m not betting my car on this, am I?” Not that he would really mind if his car got wrecked, but it would be a shame to have to hire yet another driver when he didn’t even have this one broken in yet. Also, try as he might, Justin couldn’t bring himself not to hope that this date went long into the night.

 

"No really it will be fine..." Forge hesitated then. "But if you're really worried I'll go home in an hour or two..." He couldn't really tell if he was imagining things or not...but in a way he felt like this date didn't mean to much to Justin...that's just how he felt... So he would try to adjust anything he felt, for Justin's sake... 

 

“What?” Justin half-yelped. “Oh, no, that won’t be necessary. I just don’t want us to be interrupted. But if you say we won’t, then I’m fine with that.” Justin hoped he wasn’t coming on too strong. Then again, pity cases always came on too strong, that was why they were pity cases.

 

Forge slowly nodded. "Okay...I just don't want to make you uncomfortable if you're worried about the time." He said, looking at him... He was getting a little more unsure now about the meaning of this to Justin.

 

“No, ah, I’ve got all the time in the world. We can even have drinks at mine afterward and still be fine on time, my whole night’s free.” Okay, drinks afterward, that was definitely too crass. Forge didn’t even drink, so Justin didn’t even have a chance of him not catching the euphemism, and Forge was probably not the sex-on-the-first-pity-date kind of guy. Unless he was. In which case Justin may be getting laid tonight. Probably not though.

 

Forge looked at him. He wasn't sure how to respond to that since he didn't drink. "Well I don't drink..." He said slowly. That was the only decent thing he could come up with to say to that... 

 

“Apple juice or something. Tea? Water, at least.” Justin increased his pace just a bit. Forge tried to match his pace to keep up.

 

"I-I guess-" He stuttered just as his concentration was also on keeping his footing right. It was actually a little harder with a metal leg… Seeing Forge struggling, Justin slowed the pace a bit.

 

“Great, well, I hope you like this place I picked out. They have great pizza, I hear. Did I mention that already?” It was getting harder to keep track of what he said, since he usually lost his place when babbling. Forge was relieved to know the other slowed down some and he caught up because of it.

 

"You did but it's fine." He chuckled a little and looked at Justin. He really did care about him, more than Justin would probably ever know... Because he knew this wasn't going to last. What would someone like Justin actually see in him anyways? 

 

“Ah, sorry.” Justin glanced at him. “You look good, by the way. Great. I happen to like you just when you’re greasy from the workshop, but you clean up well enough.” The clothes obviously hadn’t seen a tailor in their pitiful lives, but Forge filled them out well. Justin flashed him what he hoped was a blinding smile and led the way out the door.

 

Forge blushed a little at what he said, but quickly made it go away. He didn't want people getting well...the right idea considering the situation, but he knew it might ruin Justin's image..he wouldn't do that. "T-thanks." Justin clomped down the stairs to the street level and slid inside the car that was waiting for them. He looked back at Forge expectantly, having slid over just enough that the other could comfortably fit. 

 

Forge was getting nervous again. Yet, he slid into the seat next to Justin and took a deep breath. He relaxed himself. What were they going to talk about during this car ride? Justin settled his arm around the back of the bench seat, leaning back.

 

"Thanks for coming. It was a bit distressing not having you in the workshop all last week. You know, in the future if you have a problem like that you should just call me up. You do have my phone number, right? I can give it to you if you don't, just don't go passing it out to the press, right, my man?"

 

Forge looked at him. "...sorry." He said slowly, he didn't know what else to say. "And I don't but don't worry about that. It probably won't happen again." As of right now it seemed like all of Forge's intentions were pure.

 

“You should still have it just in case. Here, I’ll program it in for you,” Justin held out his hand for the phone. “How else will I get a hold of you for another date?”

 

Forge blushed a little but slowly handed over his phone...he actually had a cell now...which was helpful since he normally just used a landline. "O-okay..."

 

“Great.” Justin took it and quickly navigated the menu to the contacts, putting in his number, before just looking around the phone. “What is this? It’s certainly not Hammer tech. You should try our new line of smart phones, I’m sure you’d get a kick out of it.” He held the phone back out to Forge.

 

"....I just bought this..." Forge said slowly, ashamed lightly. There wasn't really anything on it yet....but it was at least a touch screen not a flip phone. Originally he only got it for missions in case someone needed him at the mansion or even at work... 

 

“Oh, well it’s not that bad I guess. Not the best. I could get you a better one, one of the new line. They don’t have all the bugs worked out yet but you like a work in progress, yeah? Yeah.” Justin slung his arm around Forge’s shoulder again, leaning back and crossing his ankles. 

 

Forge blushed a little and looked at him. "Well yes but I would probably try upgrading it myself if it's not finished....with this one I can't update it." Forge said slowly....and he relaxed. This was nice.

 

“See? What you need is a Hammer phone. You could upgrade it yourself, just as long as you’re not too fond of your warrantee. A little tinkering here and there… I’d love to hear your ideas, if you’d like to share them.”

 

"I don't know much about phones, I don't know what would happen." Forge responded. "This is honestly the first non-landline I've ever had." He explained.

 

“Seriously?” Justin eyed him dubiously. “Well thank goodness you’ve got a cellphone now. How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

 

"How old?" Since he didn't know exact dates...well he kind of did but where he lived before didn't keep normal calendars. "late 20's I know that. Where I grew up our calendars were very different." He explained.

 

“Right… So somewhere between “legally allowed to drink” and “legally entitled to medicare”. That’s a good place to be, I’m there myself.” Justin gave him a smile. He was a bit closer to the second option than Forge was, but Forge didn’t need to know that. If he didn’t know already. Forge looked at him and nodded. 

 

"Yeah." He nodded and then popped his arm since it needed to fit back into place. It did that sometimes. Justin blinked and eyed Forge’s arm.

 

“Does that happen a lot?”

 

"Huh? Well kinda I guess. It's not a normal arm so I never really thought about it." Forge glanced at the arm.

 

"I have to say that my arms never come out of their sockets randomly for no reason, so if it happens at all it seems noteworthy." Justin ran a finger along the seam, tracing the way it fit together through the fabric.

 

"I guess." Forge glanced at what Justin was doing and raised an eyebrow. "It's not really that strange to me."

 

“I’ve never talked much with amputees, so I wouldn’t know. I have to deal with my vision, so it can’t be that different.” Justin shrugged and adjusted his glasses demonstratively.

 

Forge looked at him. He nodded a little bit. "Yes we both have very different problems." He chuckled a little bit.

 

“You can drive, at least. You can drive, can’t you?” Justin quirked an eyebrow at him. He assumed that Forge could drive, he just didn’t have a car, but for all he knew Forge wasn’t able to drive.

 

"Huh? Well yes. Well not really cars. Mostly jets, helicopters, things that fly. It's really easy." He smiled. "I pretty much speak to technology remember? Doesn't make it at all hard at that point."

 

“I guess not,” Justin smiled and gave him a nod. “I’d like to say the same but, well, obviously I’m not a mutant like you. Besides that, my strengths were never exactly engineering-based.”

 

Forge rubbed his head. "....it's a good thing you're not a mutant." He said gently. Then nodded. "I kind of just know stuff...comes naturally I guess." He slowly shrugged.

 

“I’ve seen you work and it is a marvel to behold. And it’s not like you have a tail or anything, so you’re really not obviously a mutant. you could just be really good with technology, except for the x gene.” Justin shrugged slightly.

 

"....yes but my ability to work can give me away. Because of how I act...that's how I've been in trouble before..." He looked at him. "I'll never go to my full potential for safety."

 

“So you have no cover story? No ‘oh, yeah, I’m a supergenius. Just a normal human being with extra brains and a thing for metal’? Though I guess they might not believe tha- wait.” Justin looked at him and poked him in the pectoral. “Are you saying that never in your life have you let yourself completely let go with a machine?”

 

"I can at the institute. No one there to accuse me and throw me to the MRDS to die." Forge responded. "How else do you think I got the jet fixed all the time?" Forge laughed a little.

 

“I was a little worried there. And, if you’d like, I can step up the security on your workshop at HI so you can let go a bit more. Right now, if anything, I’m having trouble feeding you projects and materials.”

 

Forge looked at him and rubbed his head. "It's wise if I don't...and sorry I just get ideas easily. And just kind of make them....eheh..."

 

“You do realize that’s what HI does? We sell ideas. So if you have ideas and make ideas, we can sell ideas, and everyone is happy. Besides, your brain is a beautiful thing. You shouldn’t have to hold yourself back.” 

 

"..." Forge looked at him. "You also don't have solid walls to keep a mutant from destroying them. Let's not let me go full out and not risk something blowing up..." He said softly. 

 

“We have vaults, if that’s what you’re worried about, if you want some place to do risky work. We have a few floors underground where we do some light testing of our lighter explosives. We have people using them, of course, but you could sketch out some times to work down there. It would probably have to be late in the afternoon and evening, but I’m sure you could work something out,” Justin nudged him encouragingly.

 

Forge rubbed his head. "Maybe....I don't know..." He said nervously. He just....was he ready to risk exposing himself? He didn't know...

 

“No one would interrupt you. Things go wrong enough in testing that if people have any value on their life at all they don’t go into those vaults when someone’s testing. You’d be fine.”

 

Forge looked at him. "..I'll think about it okay?" He said then slowly. He relaxed then, not going to think about it much more. He closed his eyes a little.

 

“Right, right, not trying to pressure you or anything. Just thought you’d be a bit happier if you were able to let go on the job.” Justin leaned back, tracing patterns on the joint between metal and flesh on Forge’s shoulder.

 

Forge didn't mind and relaxed...smiling a little. "Hm..." He glanced back at Justin. "I'll see." He said softly again.

 

“Great.” The car slowly pulled to a stop and Justin sat up to look out the window. “It looks like we’re here.”

 

Forge opened his eyes. He smiled. "Alright." He sat up then, moving to get out. The driver opened the door for them and Justin waited a bit impatiently for him to get out. Forge got out and smiled softly. This was going to be nice...he hoped. He looked at Justin with bright eyes. Justin smiled and slid out after him. He nodded to the restaurant, which was small and quiet and essentially empty.

 

“Come on.” Forge followed him inside and smiled.

 

"It's so peaceful~" He said happily.

 

“It’s all empty, since I bought out the place for the night. Don’t want to be interrupted, after all.” Justin gave him a smile and pulled out his chair for him.

 

Forge smiled softly. "That's lovely." He said softly and sat down. "Thank you~" He was happy by now, that's for sure. This was nice… Justin smiled and softly took the chair opposite him. The waiter, the only waiter in the joint, placed waters on the table.

 

“What can I get you to drink?”

 

"This is fine." Forge said, he didn't drink much more than a water anyways.

 

“This is all for me as well,” Justin smiled to them. The waiter nodded, giving them an odd look, before moving off, ostensibly to wait for them to look over the menu.

 

Forge rubbed his head then glanced down at the menu. Admiringly....he didn't know what half of these things were. So he would stick to what he did know.

 

Justin sat back, watching him. He already knew exactly what he was getting and how much he would eat, etc. so all he had to concentrate on was Forge.

 

Forge furrowed his eyebrows...trying to figure out what would taste the best... "Sorry...never been somewhere like this so...eheh it's kind of confusing." He gently admitted.

 

“If you need help with the menu I’m fluent in Italian and I would be happy to help.” Justin gave him a bit of a smile. Of course he had chosen this in part because of his own fluency in the language and his guess that Forge would not be. It was a calculated risk for added intimacy on his part.

 

Forge blushed a little. "Er, that would actually be helpful....I don't understand half of it and most of the words in the dishes I can read...." He looked up slowly. He didn't know Italian. He could read you the old Indian languages any day, but not Italian. 

 

“Right, well,” Justin leaned in close to him and started pointing to each item as he named them, explaining each one as he went.  He made sure to get just a little extra close in the process, pressing against Forge’s side. Forge blushed heavily but listened to him. This was so strange. But he didn't mind... Softly he nodded. 

 

"T-thanks." He stuttered. He was happy...that Justin didn't mind getting close to him. Justin smiled and nodded, retreating back to his own chair.

 

“Of course. I should have considered that it would be difficult for you to order off the menu.”

 

Forge rubbed his head a little. "It's fine I just only know more or less dead languages." He at least knew what he wanted now. He set the menu down.

 

“Dead languages, eh? You a Latin whiz then?” Justin quirked an eyebrow at him.

 

"No not really...Indian languages. And I don't mean from India. I mean Native American." Forge responded.

 

“Is that your heritage, then? Native American? And it isn’t exactly dead when it’s still in use on reservations and in homes on occasion. Not that I would know,” he shrugged lightly.

 

"I am." Forge glanced down. "I kind of got kicked out though." He rubbed his arm a little bit. "And well the normal population won't speak it."

 

“You got kicked out? Wow, that’s gotta hurt. I’m sorry, my friend.” Justin tilted his head and leaned forward, sympathetic.

 

Forge shrugged a little. "They weren't too happy with what I chose. I mean...I went to the army, and that didn't go well..." 

 

“You were military? Can’t say I expected that. But yeah, I can see how that got you in trouble with the chief or whatever.”

 

"Yeah I went into the military a while back. And yeah, the whole village wasn't happy. They didn't exactly welcome me back anymore, that's for sure."

 

“I’m sorry. I won’t bore you with the story of the falling out with my parents, but let’s just say they wouldn’t want me visiting their graves now.” Forge frowned softly at that and looked at him. He carefully moved his hand and gave Justin's hand a light, comforting, squeeze. Then moved his hand back. Justin’s hand followed his, squeezing it slightly and just holding on. “We were never exactly close, though. Probably not the same as being chased out of your own village.”

 

"I guess but it's still sad." Forge said softly. He lightly held on now, knowing the other didn't mind it as he was holding on to. It was nice....to know, that someone did care... And they could talk freely. Justin shrugged.

 

“It’s probably not the worst thing that’s happened, but let’s not go into that.” Forge frowned again, but gently held Justin's hand. This was as good as comfort as he got. “You like it at the Institute? They certainly seem protective of you, or at least Logan is.”

 

"Yeah I like it, they saved me to say the least. So I owe them a lot. Logan is protective over everyone, even the people who screw up, badly. Storm is protective too. She makes sure we're all healthy and frets over us if we're sick. And the others pretty much do the same. Of course I normally stay in the basement so when I come out they normally wonder if something is wrong and panic." Justin nodded along as Forge spoke. This was probably the most Forge had said since Justin had met him. Forge rubbed his head a little. "S-sorry I kind of just went off there." 

 

“It’s fine, really. I certainly talk enough for the both of us.” Justin smiled. Forge didn’t tell him to shut up like… well practically everyone else in this world. It was nice. A nice change to be actually listened to even when he was saying a whole lot of nothing.

 

Forge looked at him and chuckled a little. "You don't talk that much, it's a good medium." He responded softly. Then he realized something...they were still holding hands. He turned a little red, because of that notion. Justin smirked at Forge’s blush and started brushing his fingers along the underside of his wrist.

 

“I guess you haven’t been around me enough to know my rambles that well.” Forge kept the blush now but didn't speak out. He didn't mind it, it just threw him off. 

 

"Meh, it's still not bad. I can easily do that too...I do when I'm really excited about something and normally the words I use don't make sense...I'm told to make it easier to understand..." He chuckled a little.

 

“Science doesn’t often make sense to those who aren’t used to it. I’m sure it’s more that than any sort of flaw in your speaking.”

 

"Well I also can switch languages..." Forge shrugged a bit. "So sometimes it can be a strange combination of what doesn't make sense to anyone, but I understand. Some of the words don't exist in the languages I know so it becomes a mixture."

 

“That… might be a bit difficult, yeah…” Justin gave a slightly embarrassed smile. “Especially to someone who doesn’t know all the languages you do.”

 

"Yeah....I always get embarrassed..." He turned a little more red. "And I feel bad..."

 

“Well you get distracted, you forget yourself, what can you do?” Justin shrugged.

 

"Yeah but then I have to attempt to re-explain and a lot of people don't have patience for that." Forge shook his head.

 

“Their loss, then.” Justin leaned back, detaching his hand from Forge’s. He replaced the contact a moment later with a nudge to Forge’s foot with his own. Forge didn't mind, he knew the other probably wanted his hand back. But the foot touching did throw him off a little. Because he didn't exactly understand why... He nodded some and looked around at the restaurant. It was completely empty and mostly dark except for where they were. Justin nudged his foot again lightly. Forge, again, was confused by the gesture and looked at Justin. Trying to get some understanding of what he was trying to do. 

 

The waiter came up, looking between them. “Are you ready to order?” Justin sent him a smile.

 

“Yes, I’ll be having your low-fat caesar salad. Forge?” He looked to the other for his order.

 

Forge looked at the waiter. He managed to pronounce the food he wanted, it was a noodle dish... He'd be fine with it, it looked good anyways. He gave a soft smile. Justin smiled as the waiter moved away.

 

“I hope you like it.” Forge looked at him.

 

"I'm sure I will." He smiled gently at him. Justin smiled back and nudged his foot again, entwining their ankles. Forge gave a small blush but didn't mind. He let it stay like that. "This place is really nice."

 

“I thought you would like it if I went for some place more middle ground than I usually go to.” Justin gave a half-shrug. 

 

"It's still a lot fancier than any place I have ever been in." Forge looked at Justin. "So it's fine." He said calmly, "I like it."

 

“Great. I’m glad it fits your standard,” Justin smiled. Forge blushed and then nodded a little. He smiled and leaned back in his chair. “Hmm, so where were we? Oh, yeah, you know several languages. Would you like to give me a sampler?”

 

"I guess..." Forge cleared his throat and tried to decide which one would work. When he did, he spoke calmly, saying the sentence "This is one of them."...of course in the language of his choice. It wasn't at all apparent what he said. Justin blinked and tilted his head.

 

“I like that one. Definitely very… different. Not at all germanic or romantic in origin. What did you say?”

 

"This is one of them." Forge chuckled. "Of course not, these languages were around before they came over to america." 

 

“Of course. It’s very different. Are there different variations or do you know several completely different languages?”

 

"They're similar but they're all different in meaning." Forge explained. "One word can change the meaning, and the tone can be tougher or lighter. Just depends on which on which one I want to use."

 

“I guess that makes sense. Different things have different connotations in each language.” Justin nodded a bit, thinking of his own experience and pains with foreign and dead languages.

 

"It's not too difficult for me to switch, but it can get confusing. Which isn't fun always because then the sentence can make little to no sense." Forge looked at him softly, after glancing around a bit more.

 

“Syntax gets tricky when you switch languages mid-sentence. I remember thinking in and out of Latin when I was still learning, and that was confusing.”

 

"Yeah, it's not always easy. I kind of learned it all at once so it was easy to confuse them. I always had to think about it while speaking. Which actually made me screw up more." Justin smiled softly.

 

“I bet that was cute to watch.” Forge turned a little red. 

 

"I-I don't know." He stuttered. 

 

“You get flustered so easily now. I bet you were cute as a kid, too.” Justin smiled a bit broader, blushing slightly. Forge turned a darker red.

 

"I...I don't remember..." He stuttered, and shook his head. "It was a different environment...."

 

“Do you have any pictures?” Justin thought about a miniature Forge, maybe a bit twiggy with a brain to match.

 

"Huh? Well yeah I do back at the institute." Forge nodded. "I always keep them with me when I move around. I think they're in a box under my bed." He chuckled.

 

“I think I’d like to see them some time. I’m sure you look great in them.” Justin smiled and shifted in his seat, mind brought back to his own body and how he looked in this lighting. Forge blushed and nodded a little bit. Maybe...he wasn't sure. But maybe. He looked at Justin softly. Justin leaned forward again to make his torso less visible and propped his arms on the table, looking across at Forge.

 

"Um...what should we talk about?" Forge asked then. He wasn't really a conversation starter... His eyes were soft though. Not at all judging Justin. 

 

“Anything is fine with me. What would you like to talk about?” Justin tilted his head.

 

"Er, I don't really know." Forge rubbed his arm nervously.

 

“What about…. Well you seemed to like talking about the Institute. What sorts of things do you work on there?”

 

"Huh? Well whatever really. Unless something needs fixing it's just random projects." Forge responded.

 

“What are you working on now?” Justin prompted.

 

"No idea yet." Forge laughed. "I had to fix the chandelier and then I just kind of got parts. I don't know what's going to happen with it yet."

 

“So you just kind of let yourself go and things happen, is that right? It is an amazing skill set.” Justin smiled.

 

"More or less that's what happens." Forge shrugged. "I don't have ideas most of the time." He looked up at Justin gently. "Sometimes it's helpful but it can also be stressful." 

 

“Stressful how?” Justin tilted his head.

 

"I'll have parts and stare at them...not knowing what to do. Because that does happen sometimes, and it's not fun." Justin huffed slightly and smiled.

 

“I can imagine. It is the most frustrating feeling in the world to know that you’re just the smallest bit off, or you’ve built something and still have parts left over.”

 

"Yes, it's thoroughly annoying." Forge nodded. "Sometimes I just sleep on it, then work in the morning." 

 

“Sleep is helpful. Sometimes I’m stuck on something for weeks, months, but I guess that doesn’t happen for you, does it?” Justin looked to him.

 

"Oh no it does. It took a very long time to make the cockpit of the jet adamantium proof." Forge responded, looking up at him.

 

“You what? You made something that isn’t adamantium adamantium proof? How did you do that?” Justin asked, amazed.

 

Forge put a finger to his lips. "Now that one is my little secret." He grinned then. Justin grinned and shook his head.

 

“You are amazing. I don’t know how I’m one of the first to stumble upon you, but I’m glad I did.”

 

"....well I am a mutant. You're probably the only one who would actually not care about that fact." Forge said softly. "Others would use me until they get tired of it, then let the MRD deal with me..."

 

“You’re too great at what you do for me to just let you go. If anything, you’re Hammer Industries’ greatest asset, and it was one of the best choices of my life hiring you.”

 

"Well I'm glad you think that way..." Forge smiled gently at him. "I like being helpful...and seen not just as a mutant that can be useful for a time." Justin smiled back.

 

“You’re definitely being helpful. You’re doing great things for R&D.”

 

Forge smiled more at that. "Good." It really did make him happy. 

 

The waiter, who was looking bored out of his mind, set their food down on the table before them. “Here you are. Enjoy your meal.”

 

"Thank you." Forge smiled at him, looking at what he ordered. It really did look good. He unwrapped his utensils. Justin spread his napkin and placed his utensils to the side, looking across at Forge’s food, then up to Forge. Forge noticed his gaze and smiled at Justin. "It looks good doesn't it?" He was hungry...really hungry. 

 

“Ah, sure. If you like that sort if food,” Justin shrugged.

 

"I just like food..." Forge said, embarrassed... He shifted and glanced down. Justin shrugged and grasped his fork, spearing a bite of lettuce.

 

“It’s your body.”

 

Forge rubbed his head a little and then began to eat. He felt like he really screwed it up. He sighed and ate calmly then. Justin popped the lettuce in his mouth and chewed slowly before swallowing and putting his fork down. 

 

“You know, I wasn’t lying, you are probably the best assed Hammer Industries has. It’s a real shame that we can’t show you off.”

 

Forge glanced at him. "Thanks..." He said softly. "I don't want to be shown off so that's a good thing to me."

 

“Ah, no, don't you like the spotlight? You would be great, the next Tony Stark!” Justin encouraged with a grin. Forge shook his head.

 

"N-no way. Way too many people." He insisted. "I could not do that, just couldn't."

 

“Sure you could. You’d be great.” Justin nudged him encouragingly.  

 

"But the people..I wouldn't be able to speak and just..." Forge looked nervous just thinking about it. He couldn't do that!

 

“Sure you could. You’re great, you just can’t overthink it. I’m sure you would be great at speaking if you ever got over your stage fright,” Justin smiled. Forge shook his head.

 

"P-please no. I just..." He got a darker red as he got embarrassed. "I would freak out..."

 

“You’d be great. But either way, that won’t happen,” he conceded. “Unfortunately, you’re too well-known as a mutant.” Forge rubbed her head a little.

 

"Yes..." And he wouldn't be able to do it. He would freak.

 

“It’s too bad. You would be great.” Justin sighed wistfully. Forge pouted and shook his head...

 

"I don't like people anyways..." He shifted.

 

“Everyone likes being appreciated. Don’t give me that,” Justin gave a little pout. Forge pouted.

 

"But people can be annoying. I prefer to keep away from them if I can." 

 

“I guess that’s true. You don’t find me annoying, do you?” he teased slightly.

 

Forge looked at him softly. "Not at all." He responded softly. He smiled at him.

 

“I’m glad,” Justin smiled, though it had a hint of sadness to it. Forge saw the sadness and he wondered why the other looked sad. But he smiled at him. Justin took his second bite of salad and chewed slowly, swallowing after a few moments. Forge slowly began to eat again then. It was awkward between them, that's what it seemed like anyways.

 

“Do you have any hobbies other than technology?” Justin inquired lightly.

 

"I don't really do much besides it...we can't go out without fighting breaking out and someone getting hurt. So I mean we just do stuff around the institute." Forge shrugged a little.

 

“So what do you do? Do you play golf? Backgammon?” Justin asked, listing the sports that he himself played on occasion, with little to no actual success.

 

"...I don't play sports....it's not always fun running with this leg of mine. But I do work out. After all I do want to be fit."

 

“I can tell. It’s pretty obvious.” Justin looked Forge over, eyes lingering on the other’s muscles. Forge chuckled a little.

 

"Funny, normally people think I'm just a small person that stays inside and ignores exercise. And I've seriously been told that before."

 

“Well obviously whoever it was didn’t look at you for more than two seconds. You’re obviously not a desk worker.” Justin smirked and winked from behind his purple tinted glasses. Forge blushed. 

 

"I-I guess." He stuttered, looking down a little bit.

 

“I’m sure that lifting metal beams can’t do bad things for your muscles,” Justin smiled. That made him softly chuckle and look at Justin.

 

"No not really, as long as you know what you're doing that is."  

 

“All I know is that circuits are about as big as I can lift.” Justin shrugged.

 

"Then you probably shouldn't do it." He chuckled, shaking his head.

 

“Nah, that’s why I have R&D guys to do all the heavy lifting. I’m not the best at all that, anyway.” Forge nodded at that.

 

"Makes sense. No reason in risking yourself for something someone else can do much easier." Justin nodded.

 

“I’m all business. That’s how the company keeps in shape so you guys can do your jobs. I help where I can, but that’s not often.” Forge nodded.

 

"I see." He didn't think he could ever do a desk job, those would drive him insane. 

 

“Business and law has always been more my headspace than engineering, anyway.” Justin gave an apologetic smile. “Words, not numbers.”

 

"I'm the exact opposite." Forge chuckled. "Your job would drive me mad!" He laughed. 

 

“See, and I can never understand how you could be so happy in a workshop all day. I’d go insane if I couldn’t talk to anyone all day.” 

 

"I don't like people so I'm perfectly at ease with it." Forge grinned. "No one bothers me unless they have to."

 

“Has anyone been contacting you at HI?” Justin asked curiously and slightly concerned.

 

"Not really. They don't exactly acknowledge me unless they need to. Probably because I don't have a big fancy degree or even a degree at all."

 

“Degrees aren’t everything. I’d be surprised if they weren’t scared of you putting them all out of business. You’re like a one man R&D lab.”

 

Forge chuckled. "Who knows, but it's best if they don't bug me. Then there is less of a chance someone actually finds out I'm a mutant and tells the public about it...that's definitely not something you need." Justin grimaced slightly.

 

“I guess you’re right. And it means you’re never being hogged by someone when I come and visit you.” He tried not to sound smug about this. Forge caught it though, but just chuckled.

 

"Nope, always free. I think the only one who decently talks to me is that girl....she's never told me her name though." He scratched his head. 

 

“That girl? What girl?” Justin couldn’t stop himself from sounding outraged. He pouted slightly.

 

"Huh she's just a girl in the department. She'll eat lunch with me sometimes when the others get all moody. Don't worry though I'm pretty sure she just wants to not outcast me." Justin huffed, pouting still.

 

“That’s what you think, but that might not be what she thinks. I know what you look like all hot and greased up from working on things.”

 

Forge had..chosen a very bad time to take a drink of water. He almost choked as he turned a very deep red. He calmed himself down and looked at Justin, not sure how to form words all of the sudden. Justin blushed and took a sip of water to recover himself. Then he looked at Forge and raised an eyebrow. “What? It’s true.”

 

"I-i okay..." He didn't have a come back or anything. So he left it at that.

 

Justin nodded, somewhat embarrassed but not about to back down now. “You know, you never did say if you’d like drinks at my place afterwards.”

 

Forge looked at Justin then rubbed his arm. "I-I guess if you want to." He said nervously. Justin smiled winningly.

 

“Great! Let’s do that, then.” Forge nodded a little.

 

"Alright." Though he wasn't sure exactly what he was going to drink. Justin smirked and took a sip of his water, satisfied. Forge leaned back since he was done eating. He looked at Justin calmly. Justin, who had taken a grand total of three bites of salad, set down his fork and smiled to him, meaning he was done.

 

“Did you want dessert?” Justin offered.

 

"Huh? No I don't feel like it." He shook his head.

 

"Great. Are you ready to go, then?" Justin asked, playing with the hem of his sleeve nervously.. Forge softly nodded and moved to get up.

 

"Yes." He said calmly, he wanted to help pay for something though....he felt bad letting the other do so. Justin nodded and smiled. He stood, folding his napkin neatly and setting it on the table.

 

“Let’s go, then. I paid ahead so there would be no delay.”

 

"Oh..okay..." Forge nodded a little, then getting up. He ran a hand through his hair. Justin smiled and made his way through the restaurant, leading Forge out into the night air. Forge followed and took a deep breath, smiling. It was nice out...he liked it. Justin looked to him and smiled, stretching his legs. Forge was looking around and he smiled. "It's nice out..."

 

“It is. It’s nice and cool, isn’t it?” Justin started meandering his way towards their ride.

 

Forge followed. "Yes, but not that cool. Just right." He smiled.

 

“Exactly,” Justin nodded, and opened the door for Forge. Forge smiled and thanked him before he got into the car. He slid over so Justin could get in. Justin followed him and shut the door, leaning back in his seat. Forge looked up at him then just relaxed. 

 

“Thank you for coming with me. It’s been a nice night,” Justin nodded to him.

 

Forge smiled at him. "It was great. Thanks for asking me..." He blushed gently. Justin nodded with a generous smile.

 

“Well you did say beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were interested.” 

 

Forge looked down and shifted. He was embarrassed as that was brought up. “Not that it’s a bad thing. It just relieved me of my coward’s excuses not to ask you.” He smiled lightly. Forge looked up at him.

 

"I-it's still embarrassing..." Especially with how it went down. Not exactly the way he wanted to confess.

 

“It’s fine, really. I can’t say I have much better luck with confessions like that.” Forge nodded a little and looked at him. He smiled at him softly. “Not that your admission wasn’t surprising,” Justin said curiously. Forge blushed and shifted.

 

"W-well..." He didn't manage to continue what he was saying. Justin tried to smile encouragingly. "I-it just kind of happened." He said then softly. Justin’s smile fell slightly and he nodded. That meant Forge really hadn’t meant it after all, then. "I mean I had been trying to think of a way...I just...that was really not the time I wanted to say it. I wanted the situation to definitely be a little more...I guess romantic..." He shifted and blushed more. "...though I'm happy I said it." He looked up at Justin then. "Because now I don't have to worry about the possibilities of rejection..."  Justin smiled slightly, tinged with sadness.

 

“Nope, no chance of rejection from me.”

 

"....er...did I say something wrong?" Forge asked softly then, he could see the sadness... And he wondered what he did. Justin blinked and shook his head, looking away.

 

“No, not at all. It’s fine.” Forge looked down. He knew from that reaction he did...

 

"If you want me to go home I will. I don't mind...I'll walk back." He responded then

 

“Hmm?” Justin frowned. “No, of course not. For one we’re miles from the institute, and for another I invited you back to mine.” Forge looked at him.

 

"....I know I said something and screwed up..." He responded. "...I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want me around." Being a mutant, he got extra sensitive with emotions.

 

“Of course I want you around… you didn’t say anything wrong,” Justin shook his head, confused by Forge’s sudden outburst.

 

"But you got upset...I could see it...I see things others wouldn't because I'm sensitive to emotions. I know I said something..."

 

“It wasn’t anything you said,” Justin refuted, trying for a smile. “I’m fine, really.” Forge was pretty sure that wasn't true...he looked at him. He had said something. But he didn't know what… “I was just thinking that I’m not sure I have up-to-date… supplies at my apartment. Now that would be unlucky.”

 

"...supplies?" Forge looked at him. That couldn't be why Justin had gotten upset. Not at all.

 

“Eh, yeah,” Justin blushed. “It’s been a long time since I had company over.” Forge was getting more confused, so he tilted his head. Forge had never actually had sex so he wasn't getting what Justin was pointing to. “Ah…” Justin finally seemed to realize that maybe Forge didn’t quite get his euphemism was for. “Actually… maybe I should just drop you at the institute.”

 

"Eh?" Forge was wondering what he did...because the only thing he had done this time, was be confused. But that seemed to be enough for Justin to not really...want him to stick around.

 

“It’s a bit late for drinks, and like I said I don’t have the right stuff, and well…” Justin smiled slightly. “You don’t seem ready for drinks.”

 

"Um okay..." Forge blinked a few times...confused.

 

“Sorry. I was looking forward to it,” Justin shrugged. Forge just nodded a little. He wasn't sure what he did wrong… The car pulled to a stop and Justin looked up. “Looks like we’re at the institute.” He moved for the door. “I’ll walk you up.” Forge looked at Justin, then nodded a little. Justin stepped from the car and held out a hand to Forge to take, smiling slightly. "Come on." Forge took his hand lightly as he also got out. The lights were still on in the building, showing everyone was still awake. Well, besides the youngest. Justin led him slowly up the walk to the building, smiling at him. Forge smiled back lightly as they walked up. When they got to the door Forge glanced at him. Justin smiled at him and moved closer. 

 

"Thank you for tonight. This was a nice outing."

 

"Thank you for inviting me." Forge spoke softly and smiled at Justin. "It was very nice."

 

"It was," Justin nodded, leaning in slowly, giving Forge ample time to turn or pull away. Forge didn't though, but yes he did blush. Yet he didn't at all move to stop Justin. Justin smiled and brushed his lips against Forge’s in a soft kiss, blushing softly. Forge smiled gently as their lips touched. Justin pulled back and nodded to the door. “I should probably go before someone comes out and growls at me.”

 

"R-right." He stuttered. "G-goodnight." He said then softly before he opened the door.

  
"Good night," Justin waved with a half smile. Forge went inside then and took a deep breath as the door slowly closed.


	9. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Justin finally gets what's coming to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it the end? I guess you'll have to stay and find out. I mean I can't tell you these things, I'm just a lowly coauthor. And to be honest, Justin is an ass and might deserve it for breaking Forge's widdwe heart.
> 
> Enjoy.
> 
> ~Kiro

They needed to have a talk, that was definite. Justin was not going to do anything to Forge without having a talk. He grumbled and didn't even bother to knock, he didn't need to. His loud footsteps should be enough. He walked to where Justin was, following his scent. There was a rattled from the kitchen as Justin frantically moved things around, hearing the footsteps. Logan walked in, his arms crossed. "We're having a talk whether you like it or not." Justin looked up from where he was sweeping empty containers of ice cream, whipped cream, strawberries, cookies, and more into a trash can. His sallow cheeks were filled with food, which he chewed and swallowed awkwardly, still frozen. Logan raised an eyebrow at him...crossing his arms tighter. "Care to tell me what you're doing exactly?" Justin gulped.

 

“Eating. I thought that would be obvious.” He guiltily put the top back on a mostly-empty carton of ice cream.

 

"Uh-huh....looks to be a little more than just a normal round of food..." He stated calmly.

 

“I was hungry.” Justin kicked an empty chip bag beneath the counter.

 

Logan looked at him. "I'm not stupid. These are the reasons Forge worries himself over you."

 

“Then Forge should worry less. Now if you’ll excuse me for a minute,” Justin tried to make his way past Logan. Logan looked at him.

 

"I'm not stupid you know. I know something more is happening with you." Logan looked right at him. 

 

“I’m not calling you stupid, but I really do need to go just for a minute.” The urge to purge was growing in Justin’s gut. He felt bloated and disgusting, like he was foul and dirty and he was about to explode. He had to get rid of that feeling, he had to purge.

 

Logan looked right at him. "I helped Forge with his research. I know what you're going to do." Justin scowled.

 

"What research?" Did he mean those papers about bulimia that Forge had given him? Those hardly applied to Justin. They were all wrong.

 

"You're an idiot thinking that way." Logan grabbed his arm and looked him right in the eye. "You think everything is him wanting something, that's not the case. He wants to fucking help you, that's all he wants. I can see it in your eyes...you don't want to believe it. Reality check bub, it does matter."

 

“Yeah, really that’s great, but listen, I need to get past you.” Justin completely disregarded what Logan had just said. Of course it didn’t matter, Justin didn’t matter. And he just needed to purge and then he would be able to think and navigate this conversation. Logan didn't.

 

"Fuckig idiot." He snapped then. "If you're going to insist on this I'm going to make you go to a fucking doctor."

 

“I have a doctor already, thank you, now would you please move,” Justin demanded, becoming angry and almost desperate by now. Logan narrowed his eyes.

 

"If you keep this up. Forge is staying with us, at the mansion." Logan snapped then. And he was serious. 

 

"What?!" Justin shook his head. "No, you can't do that..." He trailed off desolately. He couldn't stop. He was going to lose the one person who he cared about. He couldn't stop- he couldn't- he had to keep- Justin stopped breathing. Logan looked right at him.

 

"I can and I will. Forge watching you do this to yourself is only making it worse. I'm not going to stand by and let it happen.""

 

"So you're going to make him quit?" Screw the bathroom, Justin thought, he might just throw up right here.

 

"Yeah I am. And he will." Logan moved his arm down. "Because I'm not going to have him always upset over someone that won't listen to a goddamn word we say." Then turned around. Justin’s jaw flapped as he tried and failed to think of something to say. For once in his life, he was speechless. "He fuckin loves you with all his heart. And all he wants to do is help, but he knows you won't listen. And he doesn't want you to be mad at him if he keeps trying. So I'll end it here myself, so I can stop seeing him hurt." Then began walking away. Justin stared after him, before turning back to the counter. He stared blankly at the carton of ice cream, then began his morose trek to the bathroom to retch up his dinner and his dignity. 

 

* * *

Logan picked up the paper as he sat down on the couch, glad to get some time of peace and quiet. However, he blinked when he came across a certain story…

 

Arms Dealer Hospitalized for Anorexia , said the headline, with a slightly blurry picture of a skeletal Justin Hammer lying prone in a hospital bed. Logan scowled a little then rubbed his head. Well, it couldn't be helped. At least he was somewhere where he had no choice but to listen. He then kept reading.

 

Justin Hammer, CEO of the American military’s #1 arms dealer, was hospitalized this Wednesday when he collapsed unconscious in the middle of a weapons demonstration for the US Army. Though the officials there at the time refused to comment, it is believed that he passed out due to low blood sugar. Doctors report that Hammer is severely emaciated and underweight. Anyone who saw him at the Stark expo this year can attest that Hammer is looking slimmer than ever. This paper’s sources suggest that it may be due to an eating disorder.

 

Logan sighed, shaking his head. He put the paper down before getting up to go talk to Xavier. They probably should do something about this before Forge found out or something. He would at some point, and that wasn't going to end well unless they helped.


End file.
